Franz Tost: McLaren-Honda failed because of McLaren

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Today, McLaren and Honda are both celebrating great successes in Formula 1. Last year, for example, Max Verstappen, with Honda power in his Red Bull, became Drivers' World Champion for the fourth time in a row, while the Constructors' title went to McLaren-Mercedes.

Looking back, it's all the more surprising that the partnership between the two companies didn't work out at all around ten years ago. According to former Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost, the reasons for this can be found primarily in Woking.

"We had a really good collaboration with Honda," Tost recalled on ServusTV . After three unsuccessful McLaren-Honda years between 2015 and 2017, the two companies parted ways, and Honda joined forces with Toro Rosso instead.

At the time, McLaren liked to publicly blame Honda for its lack of results. For example, Fernando Alonso's radio outburst at Suzuka, where he referred to the Japanese car's powertrain as a "GP2 engine," at their home race , remains legendary to this day.

And Tost remembers that some people at McLaren also displayed a certain arrogance behind the scenes. "There was a show run in London. We were already in talks with Honda," he recalls of a situation from 2017.

"Then the McLaren people said to me: Tell me, what do you want with them? Then I said: Be calm, we'll talk about it in five years. Only those who weren't there after five years," Tost reveals with a grin.

Honda: From Toro Rosso to Red Bull

The Austrian leaves it open who exactly he means by that. The fact is, however, that Honda was "very, very successful in Formula 1" with Red Bull, Tost recalls, revealing: "I told the Honda president at the time that we simply had to start a trial year in 2018."

"We have to work hard there. Then there's a chance that Red Bull will also adopt this engine and then compete for the World Championship," said Tost, whose prediction proved to be correct, because from 2019 onwards, Honda supplied the large Red Bull team in addition to Toro Rosso.

"And that's how we pulled it off. Very, very disciplined. And I loved working with the Japanese. They are very reliable people, meticulous workers who also have the necessary know-how," says Tost, who is therefore certain that the McLaren-Honda project did not fail because of the Japanese.

"It didn't work at McLaren back then because there was no cooperation at all, because the English simply didn't share any information with the outside world. With us, everything worked really well right away," Tost emphasizes.

"And in 2019, they already won the first race [with Red Bull]. And then we know the other story," said the long-time team boss. Indeed, Honda got back on track with Red Bull much faster than McLaren did on the other side.

While Red Bull Honda won races from 2019 onwards and even consecutive world championship titles from 2021 onwards, McLaren didn't win again until 2021 and another title in 2024. For Franz Tost and Co., this must have been a small consolation.