Why McLaren will Reunite with Mercedes After 6 Years of Separation
McLaren has had years of misfortune in F1, and as Autosport uncovers, it’s seeking to regain its strength with a familiar partner from the past.
The British brand with the most history in the sport has struggled to stay afloat for the last couple of years. Since the 1960’s, McLaren has been a force in Formula 1. They are the oldest team on the grid aside of Ferrari. Their beginning years were not as successful as one would hope, the team without a doubt struggled to stay competitive in its formative years. This is a story that has plagued the team since then and has always been a result of their engine suppliers. They never have found success in building their own units due to the extreme cost, so they were heavily dependent on other teams to provide them engines.
It wasn’t until McLaren teamed up with Cosworth, fellow British team, that they would win their first championship at the Belgian Grand Prix in the late 1960’s. McLaren has since then displayed complete and utter dominance such as in the 1988 season with the Honda-powered MP4/4 car driven by Alain Prost and Aryton Senna, described as the most dominant season by any team ever, winning 15 of 16 races. Then the early 1990’s saw them go for years without a single win. To say that McLaren’s F1 career has been stable would be far from the truth. The relationship of McLaren and Mercedes lasted nearly 2 decades until 2014, only to fissile out again and return to trust with Honda and Renault. Autosport will explain why McLaren has rekindled this relationship in their lastest YouTube video.
Let’s talk about the facts. McLaren has not been able to secure a single podium since it parted ways with Mercedes back in 2014 and had not won a race since 2012. Since then, their luck has only been worse with Honda and Renault power. Their cars were dubiously powered and unreliable as could be and the team was without a doubt facing major issues that had gone on too long. After a complete team overhaul from the beginning of the 2019 season, McLaren has started to see some relative success.
Their initial course of action with the rebuild was to first build a new wind tunnel for research and development and second, return to Mercedes power. Why Mercedes? Well, they have displayed without a doubt unstoppable dominance in the turbo-V6 era, looking to secure their 6th consecutive driver’s and constructor’s championship. Their engines by this time, have become undoubtedly refined and efficient. They are without a doubt the most logical move for the team as McLaren wants to have no excuse from an engine standpoint for winning races. A partnership with Ferrari would be near impossible, as the brand ideologies are distant and they compete squarely when it comes to production cars.
As of now, this will be the partnership that allows McLaren to keep their independence as a manufacturer while having the ability to fight for podiums simultaneously. Do you think McLaren will return to their former glory in Formula 1? We can only wait and see for the next of the next season.
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