Big Tea wrote: ↑09 Jul 2022, 12:15
Remember the original Mclaren Honda was only possible after a failed partnership with Spirit. I would not like to see Mclaren go the way of spirit.
I thought it was because Honda was upset that Piquet didn't receive clear number one status at Williams (and/or because of placing Mansell in the second car rather than Honda's preferred Satoru Nakajima).
Other Honda teams like Lotus, BAR or AlphaTauri have of course placed Honda's preferred driver of their own initiative, unlike Williams.
The decision of course rendered Williams-Judd hopelessly uncompetitive for the 1988 season which is such as shame. But conversely Williams had the freedom to do the electronics and pursue various innovaations, compared to McLaren being lumbered with Honda's insistence on doing the electronics and being slow to pursue electronic aids.
So it did work out best for Williams-Renault in the end, the last laugh for Sir Frank and not Ron? (Incidentally twice the titles going to Williams-Renault than McLaren-Mercedes in half the timespan?)
As always, of course Honda shouldn't have quit in 68 or 92 or 08 or 21, but it's Honda it's what they do.
Could a Lola-built Honda have been a true competitor to the garagistes and other (mostly Continental) manufacturer teams in the 70s, who knows?
If Soichiro Honda kept insisting on radical solutions like the four-stroke GP bike then probably not, if they just followed convention for the engine (a 3L V8... but for heaven's sake NOT aircooled!) and let Lola act in the garagiste spirit of their compatriots... Maybe?