Honda believes communication issues, born out of a great deal of respect between them and McLaren, contributed to their failed reunion.
Hopes for McLaren were high as they switched from Mercedes power to a reunion with Honda for 2015.
The couple had previously enjoyed great success together between 1988 and 1992, when McLaren won four Honda Engine Constructor titles within five seasons.
When Honda returned as an engine manufacturer alongside McLaren in 2015, there was great optimism.
The reunion didn’t come close to regaining previous fame, however, as McLaren failed to finish on the podium during their three-year stint with Honda due to a lack of reliability and lower performance before they split in late 2017.
And the main problem Honda felt wasn’t a lack of mutual respect. Instead it was too much.
F1 Testing, Paul Ricard Circuit, December 19, 1992. Great sound and a rare sight from Michael Andretti in a McLaren-Honda MP4 / 7A. # F1pic.twitter.com/q1RhepPadz
– F1 in the 1990s 
(@ 1990sF1) December 20, 2021
Quoted by Motorsport.com, Honda’s Formula 1 boss Masashi Yamamoto said: “We have learned a lot from them since the McLaren days, but we think we had too much mutual respect.
“So maybe we had a short, a bit short communication and then it was a shame that the project didn’t go well.”
Ironically, after the McLaren relationship ended, Honda began gaining a foothold again in Formula One.
Honda has teamed up with Toro Rosso and has done enough with the Red Bull junior team to convince the parent team to also rely on Honda power from 2019.
Red Bull returned to the top of the drivers’ championship in 2021, courtesy of Max Verstappen. But on a recurring theme, Honda has now left Formula 1 and instead focused on its CO2-neutral project.
Honda will be supporting Red Bull for the next season, but engine development will be the responsibility of the team after the creation of Red Bull Powertrains.
“Leaving F1 was a very big decision for Honda, both for carbon neutrality and for customers around the world,” said Yamamoto.
“Although we got good results this year, we never had a discussion about staying here.”
When asked about a highlight from Honda’s most recent F1 stint, Yamamoto said before Max Verstappen’s World Cup triumph: “The best moment for me is the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, the first podium with Red Bull Racing. And of course Austria in 2019, the first win with Red Bull. “
