How Honda Will Kick McLaren Into Shape With Its New 600bhp V6 F1 Engine

Honda is coming back to Formula 1 as an engine supplier for perennial under-achievers McLaren.

The Japanese firm that enjoyed such massive success with McLaren in the late 1980s – and such a pasting in the 2000s – has elbowed McLaren’s current engine supplier Mercedes out for the 2015 calendar and beyond, delivering a swift kick in the financial gonads to the team that stole Lewis Hamilton’s services in the off-season.

Commenting on the move, McLaren Formula 1 team leader Martin Whitmarsh and Takanobu Ito, President and CEO of Honda both had interminably boring things to say, so we’re not going to repeat them.

Read why we should be thrilled about Honda's F1 return.

What wasn't said by either dullard is that Honda is supplying engines for a fraction of the price Mercedes wanted to charge, which frees money up in the McLaren coffers to pay for a decent driver. Or to improve the car. Both, maybe?

So why has Honda come back now after turning tail so embarrassingly at the end of 2008? Next year’s rule changes, which replace the 2.4-litre V8s with 1.6-litre turbocharged V6s that rely more than ever on energy recuperation tech, are going to give Honda the development and marketing potential they want, ultimately with the aim of improving future engines in its road cars.

If that means a Civic Type R with a 600bhp 1.6-litre turbo that revs to 15,000rpm, that sounds fine by us, Honda. Get on it.