waynes wrote: ↑13 Jun 2017, 17:36
i think in the Sky coverage Martin Brundle said something about Honda developing the engine at Sauber away from the pressures of Mclaren.
While this is true to an extent i'm pretty sure Sauber want to be scoring regular points, not just being a test bed for Honda
But that is different from Mclaren expecting to fight for a championship with the first iteration.
The relationship with mclaren was very asymmetric from the start. You had an established championship contenter with two championship drivers paired with a fresh engine manufacturer.
I am pretty confident that when the details come out Honda felt compelled or was in some cases even pressured to take high design risks. Making a car which runs reliably at the back of the field was and still is no option for Mclaren, they have to be top 10 if only to be able to fund their outfit. With Sauber that is not as black and white and they can compromise to make a stable development platform.
Pressure can be good. However all or nothing means that in some cases you end up with nothing.