Honda back in F1 as engine supplier to McLaren from 2015

Honda has announced its return to F1 in 2015 as engine and energy recovery supplier for McLaren, with the new real to be know as McLaren Honda.

We reported that Honda were looking likely to be heading back in to F1 as engine supplier to McLaren nearly two years ago, and this morning Honda has confirmed they have formed a joint project with McLaren to supply engines and energy recovery systems to McLaren from 2015 in a joint project with the McLaren team becoming McLaren Honda.

The new F1 partnership revives a very successful period for McLaren when it last used Honda engines and Prost and Senna dominated F1 with Honda powered McLarens, and fits in nicely with Honda’s return to making supercars with the new Honda NSX.

Formula One engines will drop to a 1.6 litre V6 in 2015 – with a turbo – and it will be very easy for parallels to be drawn with the V6 hybrid plant Honda are using on the new NSX, which is going to do its credibility no harm whatsoever.

McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh said:

The names of McLaren and Honda are synonymous with success in Formula One, and, for everyone who works for both companies, the weight of our past achievements together lies heavily on our shoulders. But it’s a mark of the ambition and resolve we both share that we want once again to take McLaren Honda to the very pinnacle of Formula One success. Together we have a great legacy – and we’re utterly committed to maintaining it.

It’s a great deal for both McLaren and Honda – a relationship no doubt helped not only by a past successful history but by the huge popularity of Jenson Button in Japan thanks to his relationship with Jessica Michibata – and could see McLaren and Honda recreating the sort of success they enjoyed in the 1980s.

It also extricates McLaren from their less than jolly relationship with Mercedes.