Honda’s notion of supplying another Formula One team with its engines next season appear to have been shattered as negotiations with Scuderia Toro Rosso have reportedly been called off with no deal signed.
According to Autosport, the sticking point was largely financial, which ostensibly meant Toro Rosso wasn’t willing to pay what Honda wanted for its engines. But given how poorly those engines have been performing, we wouldn’t be all that surprised if Toro Rosso wanted compensation to go the other way in order to accept running under Honda power.
After three seasons powering McLaren exclusively, Honda sought another customer team to run its engines next year. An initial deal with Sauber was scuttled last month when the Swiss team changed leadership and the new management opted to stick with Ferrari. With all the other teams ostensibly satisfied with their engine deals, Toro Rosso looked like the only likely candidate, but in the end the team chose to continue with Renault. And at this point in preparations for next season, the prospect of finding another customer team is only compounded for Honda.
The next big question is over what McLaren will do. With neither Mercedes nor Ferrari reportedly interested in stepping in to save it, Woking would need to convince Renault to take on a fifth team next season in order to avoid running under Honda power for another year. If it succeeds, Honda could be forced out of the series out of lack of options – but it’s at least as likely that the same scenario could leave McLaren stuck with an underperforming package for 2018 as well.
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