"How on earth did McLaren pull that off?": Honda's first deal in the Turbo hybrid era explained

F1 pundit Scott Mitchell-Malm looks back at McLaren's deal with Honda in 2015. The partnership between the two companies was largely unsuccessful, with the team abandoning the Japanese brand in later years.

Honda recently announced that it will be Aston Martin's engine supplier once the new era of F1 begins in 2026. The Silverstone-based team will hopefully be able to take advantage of Honda's incredible development capabilities, putting them in the best possible position right as the new engine regulations take hold.

While Honda shared a supremely successful relationship with the British team at Ayrton Senna's peak, the Japanese automotive giant was unable to lead the Woking-based team to success from 2015 to 2017.

Unlike their upcoming deal with Aston Martin, Honda started supplying turbo-hybrid engines to the Woking-based team one year after they were introduced, putting them on the back foot from the get-go.

Speaking about the upcoming deal, Scott Mitchell-Malm and Josh Suttill discussed it on The Race podcast:

"It's absolutely not a revival of that ridiculous McLaren deal. I wasn't around in F1 when this deal was done. How on Earth did McLaren ever pull that deal off?"

Josh Suttill continued:

"They came into the new regulations one year late, which is not a good thing to do. We are seeing an echo of that - not a repeat. In that, they have committed to these regulations a little bit late as well, so they're not quite maximum attack on it."

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What is McLaren's target after a disastrous start to the year?

According to McLaren CEO Zak Brown, the team's objective for the 2023 season has been revised from aiming for a fourth-place finish to targeting fifth place. Brown explains that the leading four teams would have established a significant points advantage by the time the team caught up in terms of development.

The British team has encountered a challenging start to the year, with minimal points scored in the initial five races. Initially aspiring to be among the top four teams in 2023, McLaren has faced difficulties keeping pace with the rest of the midfield.

Consequently, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri frequently find themselves at the back of the grid, unable to secure points with their cars. Adding to the historic team's woes, their rivals from 2022, Aston Martin, have made substantial progress and currently occupy second place in the constructors' standings.

Speaking about McLaren's revised goals for 2023, Zak Brown told the F1 Nation podcast:

"Our goal is to be mixing it up inside the top four by the end of the year. But I think, given the headstart and the slow start we've had, actually to get to fourth on the points will probably be a tall order."

He added:

"So I think we're fighting for fifth with a few and then our goal is to be racing inside the top four by the end of the year and put in a better car out at the start of the year next year."

It will be interesting to watch the team's progress over the coming months.