McLaren-Honda Prepares for 2015: Laying the Foundations for Future Domination
12 December 2014 - 6:40PM
JCN Newswire (English)
McLaren-Honda is delighted to announce its new driver line-up
for 2015: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Kevin Magnussen will
remain an important part of the team, as test and reserve
driver.
All three men will play crucial roles in re-establishing the
ascendancy of one of global sport's most iconic unions, for McLaren
and Honda have already formed one of the most dominant partnerships
in motorsport history: Honda broke new ground in the 1980s by
creating a turbocharged engine that was unparalleled in both its
output and its efficiency, and, between 1988 and 1992,
McLaren-Honda won eight world championships and 44 grands prix, and
took 53 pole positions and set 30 fastest laps, all in just 80
grands prix.
In 1988, the partnership created arguably the single most
successful Formula 1 car of all time: the all-conquering
McLaren-Honda MP4/4, which was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna
and Alain Prost in an amazing 15 of the season's 16 grands
prix.
The lure presented by those same goals has once again brought the
legendary Japanese corporation back to the pinnacle of global motor
racing; and, again, that company, Honda, is developing its
revolutionary new turbocharged engine at its all-new purpose-built
state-of-the-art motorsport facility in Sakura, Japan.
It is against that backdrop that McLaren and Honda are now
committing to rebuilding afresh the strongest possible partnership
in Formula 1.
The aforementioned Ayrton Senna, in the opinion of many the
greatest driver in the history of our sport, won 30 of the 44
grands prix that McLaren and Honda annexed together between 1988
and 1992. Ayrton once said: "We do not need myths. We need examples
to be followed - examples of courage, determination and hope. We
need to believe it is possible to win, and it is our duty to pursue
that belief."
Everyone at McLaren, and at Honda, agrees with every word of that
inspirational remark, starting with our newly re-recruited driver,
Fernando Alonso.
Fernando Alonso said:
"I have never hidden my deep admiration for Ayrton Senna, my
favourite driver, my idol on track, my reference.
"I still remember, as a kid, the posters in my wardrobe, my toy
cars in which I dreamed I would one day emulate Ayrton, and the
kart that my father built for my older sister, and that I ended up
falling in love with. That kart had the livery of one of the most
legendary partnerships in the history of Formula 1, McLaren-Honda,
the car that Ayrton drove, the same partnership to which I am now
honoured to join, to take part in the next Formula 1 world
championship.
"I am joining this project with enormous enthusiasm and
determination, knowing that it may require some time to achieve the
results we are aiming for, which is no problem for me.
"Over the past year I have received several offers, some of them
really tempting, given the current performance of some of the teams
that showed interest. But, more than a year ago, McLaren-Honda
contacted me and asked me to take part, in a very active way, in
the return of their partnership - a partnership that dominated the
Formula 1 scene for so long.
"McLaren-Honda's repeated and open desire, perseverance and
determination in making it possible for me to join their exciting
renewed partnership, have been some of the main factors that made
me take this decision, not forgetting the most important factor of
all: we share a common objective and expectations, and there is a
very solid future, with confidence, ahead.
"I have had in-depth discussions with all the senior people at both
McLaren and Honda, I have viewed their fantastic facilities in both
the UK and Japan, and it is clear to me that, together, McLaren and
Honda are in the process of beginning what is sure to be a long and
successful partnership. And I intend to give 100% effort to help
make it exactly that.
"Finally, I want to thank the persistence of those who have fought
so hard for this to come true. I will do everything in my power to
deliver for everyone and for our team, based on a formula that has
always worked for me: effort, sacrifice, perseverance and
faith.
"We have time, we have hopes and we have the necessary resources.
Let the legend return: that is our challenge."
Jenson Button said:
"I am extremely excited to be embarking on my 16th year in Formula
1 and my sixth season for McLaren.
"Like Fernando, I am certain that McLaren and Honda will achieve
great things together, and I feel sure that, working together, all
of us will pull incredibly hard to create a brilliantly effective
winning team.
"I admired Ayrton Senna enormously, but, for me, it was the
exploits of his McLaren-Honda team-mate Alain Prost that inspired
me most as a boy. The way he stroked those beautifully brutal
red-and-white cars to grand prix wins and world championships was
to my mind poetry in motion, and I have tried to emulate his
driving style ever since.
"Being a part of new-look McLaren-Honda is a wonderful opportunity
for all of us, and I am very pleased to have been invited to do my
bit. In fact, I am absolutely raring to go.
"I am also very glad that Kevin will remain part of the team. He is
a very quick driver and a really nice guy.
"Looking forward, I know the Honda guys well, having driven Formula
1 cars powered by their engines from 2003 to 2008. I have a huge
amount of respect and admiration for them, and promise to give 100%
to make their partnership with McLaren a success.
"Last but far from least, I am very much looking forward to having
a driver as fast and as experienced as Fernando as my team-mate. I
am sure we will work extremely well together."
Ron Dennis (Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, McLaren)
said:
"I am absolutely delighted to be on the threshold of leading
McLaren-Honda to a new era of partnership, and I speak on behalf of
all at McLaren when I say that. I am equally confident that our
colleagues at Honda share that determination and passion to
win.
"As regards drivers, McLaren's policy has always been to assemble
the strongest line-up possible, and in Fernando and Jenson I firmly
believe that is exactly what we have.
"We signed Fernando a little while ago, but we decided not to
announce the fact until we had also re-signed Jenson as his
team-mate. For many reasons our negotiations with Jenson took quite
a long time, but, now that they have been concluded, we are
confident that our collaboration with him will continue to thrive
in the future every bit as well as it has in the past. Make no
mistake about it, Jenson is 100% committed to McLaren-Honda, to
Formula 1, and to winning.
"As a pair, he and Fernando are supremely experienced. Fernando has
started 234 grands prix, has converted 32 of those starts to
victories, has stood on a grand prix podium 97 times, and has won
the drivers' world championship not once but twice. He is a class
act.
"He is 33 - which, for an athlete as physically fit as he is,
constitutes a Formula 1 driver's professional prime of life.
Moreover, he is old enough to be experienced and expert, yet young
enough to be enthusiastic and energetic. I therefore firmly believe
he will deploy those four e's - experience, expertise, enthusiasm
and energy - to drive forward McLaren-Honda's on-track success next
season and for quite a few seasons to come.
"As for Jenson, at 34, he is every bit as fit as Fernando but even
more experienced: he has started 266 grands prix, has won 15 of
them, and has stood on a grand prix podium 50 times. He, too, is an
ex-world champion, and is one of the smoothest and fastest guys out
there.
"To sum up, Fernando and Jenson have started a combined total of
precisely 500 grands prix between them - a mighty aggregate - and
have won 47 of them.
"I can safely say, therefore, that we now have by an order of
magnitude the best driver line-up of any current Formula 1
team.
"Finally, I want to thank and pay tribute to Kevin, who has done a
great job this season and will continue to be an integral part of
our team. He will be our test, reserve and third driver, and
remains an excellent prospect for the future."
Yasuhisa Arai (Senior Managing Officer, Honda R&D Co Ltd; Chief
Officer of Motorsport, Honda) said:
"Our partnership with McLaren goes from strength to strength, and I
am very excited to welcome as part of our Formula 1 team two great
world champions, Fernando and Jenson. Yet the magnitude of the
announcement is quickly bringing me back down to earth to focus
harder and stronger on the seasons ahead.
"Kevin has shown remarkable growth in the 2014 season, and we are
delighted to continue working with him throughout 2015 and beyond;
we are certain there is much more to come.
"Honda is dedicated to speeding up the development of the power
unit based on the learnings of the recent Abu Dhabi test.
"Working together with these very experienced drivers, we will
fine-tune and complete the power units to competitive perfection
towards the new season."
About Honda
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (TSE:7267/NYSE:HMC) is one of the leading
manufacturers of automobiles and power products and the largest
manufacture of motorcycles in the world. Honda has always sought to
provide genuine satisfaction to people worldwide. The result is
more than 120 manufacturing facilities in 30 countries worldwide,
producing a wide range of products, including motorcycles, ATVs,
generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment and
automobiles that bring the company into contact with over 19
million customers annually. For more information, please visit
http://world.honda.com.
Source: Honda
Contact:
Honda
Media Inquiries
corporate_pr@hm.honda.co.jp
+81-3-5412-1512
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