• Interview with Eric Boullier

Can Honda return McLaren to the top?

It's easy to understand why McLaren is so excited about Honda's return next year. Of the eight constructors' championships it has won in its history, four were with Honda power and seven were achieved with a works engine deal. As long as it was a customer of Mercedes, McLaren felt there was a barrier to success - a belief only strengthened by the outcome of the 2014 championship.

"I don't think you can win with a customer engine. It's as simple as this," racing director Eric Boullier says. "Today the engines are so complex. You need to have this connection between the chassis manufacturer and the engine. You need to have this, and when it is so technological you need to develop some tools that only a works partnership can afford."

A switch to Honda power cannot come soon enough, but to expect the new partnership to challenge the mighty Mercedes works team when the lights go out in Melbourne is asking a lot. Mercedes' 2014 success story was formed around a close partnership between its chassis team in Brackley and Mercedes High Performance Engines 30 miles down the road in Brixworth. Every decision in the development of the W05 chassis was made in tandem with the development of the PU106A power unit and vice-a-versa. Conversely, customers had to build their car around an incredibly complex power unit designed for a chassis they had never seen. The advantage of being a works team under the new regulations is clear.

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"It's day and night," Boullier says comparing Honda with Mercedes. "It's not a question of relationship because when you are a customer team you are a customer team. You are delivered what you are buying - that's it, end of story.

"With Honda it's different, we are partners and at every level we are aware of what they are doing and vice-a-versa they are aware of what we are doing. Before any big decisions there is consultation to make sure it fits the plan of the counterpart. It's very transparent and very open and very, very good."

But getting both sides of the operation working together is not a simple task, especially given the cultural differences between a British racing team like McLaren and a Japanese manufacturing giant like Honda. Funnily enough, the last Honda F1 team operated out of Mercedes' current base in Brackley, but failed to live up to its potential before pulling out of the sport in the midst of the global financial crisis. Back then, the team was split across three sites: Brackley, Honda R&D in Tochigi, Japan and Honda Racing Developments in Bracknell. By all accounts it didn't really click until the development of the championship-winning 2009 car, which was handed over to Ross Brawn to operate out of Brackley when Honda withdrew. It could have been a great success story, but it took a long time coming and ultimately the financial crisis meant the Japanese manufacturer time ran out.

On Honda's return, its V6 turbo power units will be built in Tochigi and serviced in Milton Keynes, while McLaren continues to go about the business chassis development in Woking. Communication will not be as easy as it is for rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull-Renault, but Boullier is confident the language and cultural barriers between Japan and Woking will be hurdled.

"It may look a challenge at first sight, but the reality is that everything has been done quite nicely. There was already some past history, but the truth is that what we have taken from the past is this understanding of how to match efficiently both in the future. What we set up and the way we work via committee between McLaren and Honda is working absolutely brilliantly.

"It's not the same [as the Mercedes relationship] because Brixworth and Woking are in the same country; same culture and a lot of people know each other. But from what I can see now, the 'click' is done and it's working very nicely at every level of the project. We can improve the communications maybe, but I'm very impressed with how it works.

"But the fact that we have a works team status is completely different. Everybody is involved at every level and is aware about what the other one is doing. It's completely different relationship and it's very open."

The 2014 season was particularly tough for McLaren as it has had to run the Honda project alongside the development this year's troublesome MP4-29. To add to the workload, the whole management structure and decision making process at Woking has been given a complete overhaul to try to get to the bottom of the basic failings of the last two seasons. New engineers have been appointed, new ways of working have been initiated and Ron Dennis has taken charge again at the top. Boullier was tasked with overseeing those transitions, and on the basis of what he's seen he is confident he's stopped the rot and set up a solid base for Honda's return.

"I was very pleased to find such a warm and welcoming team, actually. Without bullshit, it's a team composed of a lot of brilliant people, but maybe lacking leadership in the last few years. Now that is hopefully cured, and what pleased me the most is to stop this down spiral which is now clearly coming back up. We went through some painful times but I think the team is back in good shape. The fact Honda is now with us - we will also see some driver line-up change - it is very promising."

After another year of underperforming on a grand scale, McLaren needed change and that change was not going to come as long as it was a Mercedes customer. Honda may not be able to guarantee success, and will almost certainly face big challenges along the way, but the Japanese manufacturer does at least offer the possibility of a return to the top. It's now down to both McLaren and Honda to make it work.

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Laurence Edmondson is deputy editor of ESPNF1

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