McLaren, a Honda of discontent from Japan to Woking…

Maybe it's because Eric Boullier is a calm guy, not at all polemical in nature, but very conciliatory in character. Probably the last bastion of the union between McLaren and Honda, the only one to keep the tone low in official statements, continuing to say that the project and the partnership are moving forward at full speed.

STRAINED RELATIONSHIPS In reality, relations between the now noble fallen McLaren and the Japanese giant already seem to be at their lowest terms after only twelve Grand Prix contested together. It seems counterintuitive, but the scale of the failure was such that it undermined that basic relationship of trust when a frame builder trusts in whole to a motorist. McLaren and Honda wanted to be a single large integrated reality, in the winter they went ahead with evocative slogans and proclamations, they wanted to make history and in a certain way they are making it, bringing to the track what is perhaps the worst McLaren ever seen in history . Emblem of a growing discontent in the pits is the continuous shifting of responsibility between the team and Honda, with the first "victim" of a PU that almost borders on indecency (especially for the hybrid component), and the Japanese company that instead accuses the single-seater has poor aerodynamic efficiency and little rear stability.

HONDA, Stubbornness, THE SUPERFORMULA Analyzing the facts, actions and behaviors of the parties, what stands out is the singular approach to work of the Honda management, so convinced of its potential that it has hermetically closed itself off from the outside. It is well known that for the design of their "V6 Hybrid" the Japanese did not want to hire external engineers, promoting young "brains" within the company and doing everything themselves, obviously starting from scratch. A choice that is the result of an entirely oriental philosophy, which finds its cornerstones in the sense of belonging, in pride and in the importance of work and experimentation.

In the belief that he is right, Motorsport manager Yasuhisa Arai continues to say that the PU is making great progress, fueling hopes which then clash with the merciless chronometric data like waves on the rocks. Dissolving the ambitions and hopes of a McLaren that observes in astonishment the (non)evolution of an engine that unfortunately seems little more than stuck at the first races. A situation so embarrassing that it forced Honda to ask the FIA ​​to be able to test its engine on one Superformula (the Formula Nippon), officially to demonstrate the goodness of the project to those "ingrates" at McLaren, but on balance to understand the causes of a project that seems totally wrong, so much so as to lead to the hypothesis of a scratch of the entire drive unit.

ALONSO DISCONTINUED And while on some remote track in the Land of the Rising Sun you can probably glimpse a Formula 3000 running with an F1 engine, the Japanese media themselves are furious with Arai, due to the continuous broken promises. And discontent is also increasing overseas, in England, where there are increasing rumors of a change at the top of Honda Motorsport, at the specific request of the dissatisfied McLaren. Woking niche, indeed he denies having asked for anyone's "head", yet the top driver, the man of two worlds, that champion Fernando Alonso wanted both by Macca who from Honda, did not hesitate to take the team's side.

Nando, who is a fine communicator, has repeatedly remarked - perhaps exaggerating - the goodness of the MP4-30 chassis, going so far as to maintain that the body designed by Prodromou is among the best of the lot, and speaking openly about a significant deficit in power of the engine, thus placing all the responsibility on Honda. A probably "reasoned" move, a position that makes more noise than Boullier's attempts at mediation, a strong response to Arai, who had spoken of the aerodynamic inefficiency of the single-seater.

BUTTON CONFIRMED ANOTHER INDICATOR OF DIFFICULTIES It is in this "cold war" scenario, with a McLaren melancholy condemned to the bottom of the grid and the world championship ranking - without a sponsor and a distant relative of the team that amazed the Circus with the beauty, originality and speed of its single-seaters – that the probable confirmation of Jenson Button must be read and interpreted, to the detriment of the two young talents Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne.

Also and above all in driver policy, McLaren reports a strong confusion. Four pilots under contract, two seasoned champions and two young prospects. In Ron Dennis's ideas, the starting pair was to be made up of Fernando Alonso, in the role of first driver, and a young man who could grow calmly (more Vandoorne than Magnussen). Fernando had to be free to fight at a high level, with a talented and fast teammate to cover his back. A sensible idea but which remained so having to clash with reality, with a single-seater and a PU that need continuous development and to be managed by expert hands. At present, the need to rely on broad shoulders who know how to manage a difficult situation, helping the team in its development, prevails.

A case that closely resembles Honda in the 2007-2008 period, accused of having the veteran Barrichello race alongside Button, instead of launching new recruits. At the time Ross Brawn, head of Honda in F1, responded thus: “We need expert drivers because this car is undriveable, I would never have the courage to put it in the hands of a child, it would be dangerous”. It seems like we're reliving a real deja vu, and as chance would have it, Honda is once again the protagonist, but this time McLaren is involved, a team that has won twelve Drivers' world championships and eight Constructors' titles and which cannot race behind the borders of the world.

Antonino Rendina

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