Former Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson believes Fernando Alonso’s “impatience” with Honda while at McLaren between 2015 and 2017 played a role in Max Verstappen winning his first world championship. McLaren and Honda split in late 2018 when Honda partnered with Red Bull’s junior team before moving to the senior team in 2019.
Although Red Bull announced its departure from the sport at the end of the season, Red Bull stormed to victory in 2021 when Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the title in Abu Dhabi after a year-long battle with the Mercedes driver.
And Davidson wondered how Alonso might think of the Japanese manufacturer now after the success of Verstappen with a Honda engine.
“I wonder how he saw Honda’s performance last year,” Davidson told Motorsport.nl.
“From my experience with Honda so far, I know that sometimes it can take a while to see progress, but they always make it in the end.
“You just have to let them find their way and do it their own way.
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“I wonder if Fernando is now saying, ‘If only I had been a little more patient and given him a little more time.’ Of course, nobody can see into the future.
“But I’m curious how he looks at Honda now that they have such a powerful engine. Would he think things like, ‘If McLaren had just kept working with Honda and I just kept going there’? If they had still done it . ” If the engine in the car and Fernando were still there, we would probably have had a completely different scenario now. “
Honda’s Managing Director Masashi Yamamoto recently stated that their partnership with Alpha Tauri was the turning point for the manufacturer and helped them build a competitive Formula 1 engine.
But their partnership with McLaren was one to forget, devoid of reliability and poor performance, as Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne battled outside the top 10.
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The two-time world champion was furious with their performance and branded his Honda engine as a “GP2 engine”.
But Davidson believes that if McLaren had continued with Honda they could have been in a stronger position now.
“Honda would have given McLaren the factory support that Red Bull has had in recent years,” he said.
“Of course McLaren is currently driving a Mercedes engine that is as powerful as the Honda engine.
“But it’s also about additional budget that you would otherwise have had. That is perhaps the most important point. Otherwise you could have invested the money you spend on leasing engines in the development of the car.”
“It’s a shame they’re leaving,” Davidson said of Honda’s F1 exit.
“I had a great time with them myself and learned a lot when I drove for them. Many of the faces from then were still there last year. Too bad they are leaving right now as they have developed an incredible power unit that rivals that of Mercedes. It’s always a shame when someone leaves after doing something great. “
