Tokyo: Honda will return to Formula One in 2015 as McLaren engine partners, replacing Mercedes, sources close to the company said on Wednesday. Honda's Chief Executive Takanobu Ito is set to make an official announcement as early as Thursday, one of the sources added.
The Japanese automaker quit the sport at the end of 2008, handing over their team to then-principal Ross Brawn who went on to win both titles in 2009 with Mercedes-powered Brawn GP. One source said Honda hoped Formula One's new engine regulations for 2014 would help develop technology for its mass volume road cars, adding: "That incubator aspect of the sport makes Honda's participation worthwhile."
Formula One is set to introduce a new 1.6 litre V6 engine next year aided by high-power turbo technology with energy recovery systems. The news about Honda's return to Formula One was reported earlier on Wednesday in Japanese media including public broadcaster NHK and Asahi newspaper. "There is nothing we can say at the moment," Honda spokesman Shigeki Endo said.
McLaren are committed to using engines made by Mercedes, their former shareholders, next year but have not revealed their plans for beyond that date. A team spokesman had no comment on the reports. The link-up with McLaren, the second most successful team in the sport after Ferrari in terms of race wins and drivers' titles, would revive one of the greatest Formula One partnerships....
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07:00 PM, May 15, 2013
Barcelona: McLaren are still a hell of a long way off the pace despite introducing a major new upgrade package for their Formula One car at the Spanish Grand Prix, Jenson Button said on Friday. The 2009 world champion told reporters after practice at the Circuit de Catalunya that hopes of a sudden improvement in performance were unrealistic. "We do have a lot of visible new parts on the car...
11:31 PM, May 10, 2013
Barcelona: Sergio Perez has made peace with teammate Jenson Button and their McLaren bosses after twice hitting Button during the Bahrain Grand Prix last month. Perez says they now need to work harder together in order to make McLaren more competitive at this week's Spanish Grand Prix. "We are thankful that we are in a team like McLaren which lets you fight as teammates, so in that respect we have...
09:21 AM, May 10, 2013
Sakhir: For McLaren, the story is becoming depressingly familiar. Another track and another race it doesn't expect to win. McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez were 11th and 13th fastest in the second practice ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Things aren't expected to get much better Sunday, the team acknowledged, due to the hot and sandy conditions which are unfavorable to a car like McLaren's which has struggled...
11:47 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Shanghai: Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel made clear on Wednesday that his apology to Red Bull for ignoring team orders at the Malaysian Grand Prix did not extend to any remorse about winning. "I told the team straight after that 'I apologise for putting myself above the team which I didn't mean to do'," the 25-year-old German said in an interview for team title sponsor Infiniti ahead of Sunday's...
11:39 PM, Apr 10, 2013
McLaren's Jenson Button was ninth in the season-opener Australian Grand Prix. ...
10:15 PM, Mar 25, 2013
For a brief moment, it appeared Jenson Button would challenge for a podium spot at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday and end McLaren's poor start to the season. But those hopes unraveled in the pits. ...
09:34 AM, Mar 25, 2013
Three-time Formula One champion Jackie Stewart expects McLaren to join Red Bull and Ferrari among the list of challengers. ...
12:31 PM, Mar 24, 2013
The team's newest driver, Sergio Perez, feels McLaren must do whatever it can to compete including returning to last year's car. ...
10:14 AM, Mar 22, 2013
Button had won three out of the previous four races at Albert Park, so snatching a couple of points for ninth place hardly counted as cause for celebration. ...
10:16 AM, Mar 18, 2013
The Briton finished eighth on the time-sheets in the first round of qualifying, with his new team-mate Sergio Perez at Albert Park circuit. ...
05:24 PM, Mar 16, 2013
Button was a disappointing 11th fastest after the first two practice sessions in a revamped McLaren race car. ...
03:52 PM, Mar 15, 2013
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is hoping the new design of this year's car will not produce much trouble for the team following a tough pre-season. ...
10:57 AM, Mar 11, 2013
Button shrugged off the departure of top-rated McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe and said the team's Formula One title challenge would not suffer. ...
11:34 PM, Feb 26, 2013
Tim Goss, who joined McLaren as a development engineer in 1990, was previously the team's director of engineering. ...
09:55 PM, Feb 25, 2013
Button said there was plenty of work to be done at next week's final test in Barcelona after the Briton had less track time than he had hoped for on Thursday. ...
04:57 PM, Feb 22, 2013
The former team-mates made an appearance in their respective cars in pre-season testing in southern Spain on Tuesday. ...
10:44 PM, Feb 05, 2013
McLaren finished third in the constructors' championship last season and are in the midst of a major transformation. ...
11:46 AM, Feb 01, 2013
