Motorsport News South Africa

McLaren to ditch Honda for Mercedes?

NEWSWATCH: According to various recent reports, McLaren might ditch Honda engines and switch to Mercedes for the next Formula One season.

The Daily Mail reports that this move might keep Fernando Alonso at Britain's foremost Formula One team.

F1 reporter, Adam Cooper, writes on motorsport.com: "It's widely assumed that there will be a reunion of McLaren and Mercedes in 2018, and in many ways that is the logical and very obvious route. However, it seems that things are not yet set in stone. How could they be with the Honda deal still officially in place?"

He states that when it comes to a McLaren-Mercedes partnership, "the good news is that the two sides have a history together – the bad news is that history includes a lot of unhelpful baggage." He is of the opinion that there's a chance that instead, McLaren might join forces with Alfa Romeo.

Even though the thought of rivals Ferarri and McLaren joining forces seem very unlikely, Cooper poses an interesting question:

"McLaren could badge the Ferrari engine, just as Sauber did with Petronas for many years. And it might not have to be a TAG Heuer-type sponsorship deal. Consider the logos on the back of the works SF70H. What if McLaren could agree to run the Maranello engine with the Alfa Romeo name?"

We'll have to wait and see...

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About Ilse van den Berg

Ilse is a freelance journalist and editor with a passion for people & their stories (check out Passing Stories). She is also the editor of Go & Travel, a platform connecting all the stakeholders in the travel & tourism industry. You can check out her work here and here. Contact Ilse through her website here.
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