When Honda re-entered F1 in 2015 with McLaren it was initially only committed to supplying one team. But in recent months Honda has been looking at expanding its F1 programme and despite the issues with both reliability and performance, it seems other teams are interested in securing a Honda engine supply.
Although Honda’s F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa wouldn’t say which teams he was holding discussions with, he did say that the company was interested in supplying more teams:
“From the start of this F1 activity we committed to support this society, so from that point of view it is our duty and we have to support multiple teams. And also we are thinking it will give us some benefit to the team, because we have more data and more chance to make the car running. So we don’t deny to have a second or third team.”
One of the teams expected to have Honda engines next year is Sauber. The Swiss outfit’s relationship with current supplier Ferrari has broken down in recent months and is looking for a change; an announcement of a partnership with Honda is expected soon.
But which other teams would be looking to move to Honda? Red Bull hasn’t been happy about its Renault engines since what seems like the dawn of time, so although I’m sure the team would like to switch it’d be strange if it took the risk of switching to what is currently a worse power unit. Toro Rosso might be a possibility too, but all the other customer teams seem to have fairly strong associations with their current engine suppliers, so it’s a bit of a mystery.
Who else do you think would want to have Honda engines next season? Let us know in the comments!
