Why is Wesley123 being treated with that much hostility?
I find the points he is making on-point and relevant.
I'd even go on to say that precisely this added support by an engine manufacturer who wishes to improve their image and their performance would go the extra length to ensure a good working relationship and also to make absolutely sure that their engine, however lacking it may be, is used in the best way possible.
wesley123 wrote: ↑28 Jul 2017, 23:19
Honda would really benefit from the mileage they get, and Sauber would benefit from the technical support they'd get
As I said above, I very much agree with this. On the other hand though, there's a very big reason IMO that goes against that at the same time - that being - Honda is still fighting its way through development of its power-unit and still in search of making those gains that will put them in the same ballpark as the other manufacturers.
They haven't found it,
yet. Which basically means that Honda is making extensive changes to its PU, probably even the layout of it on a regular basis. Yet one of the reasons Sauber went with the 2016 PU unit - as you pointed out yourself - was for the sake of continuity (and enabling themselves to sign with another engine manufacturer for 2018 and beyond). Going with Honda, assuming they'd still be in search of the perfect engine recipe in 2018, might just be a contradiction to that.
McLaren has the funds, the ability and the resources to burden that. Sauber arguably does not. They can't afford an even worse year and be also burdened by engine penalties while Honda treats them as another mule and testing ground (as a result of the lack of testing that is allowed in F1).
The other point is - which I am not sure how relevant it still is - but apparently Honda has the smallest and lightest power-unit (I think this was posted in the Honda PU or McLaren-Team topic or maybe I read it on AMuS). This is very much in line with the size-zero concept that they were pursuing. The idea behind this concept was to gain an advantage through better aero efficiency (better packaging requirements that lead to a tighter car) and the lighter unit resulting in more freedom for either other things or more moveable ballast, yet the compromise might be an engine that may obviously trade-off some of that for performance. Now obviously, the concept doesn't work if the deficit is too big, but on some level, the engineers of both McLaren and Honda believed in it and that this design philosophy could prove to be competitive.
I guess the point here being is that the Honda-PU is IMO a very specific
tailored engine to a very specific car - the McLaren car. It was the entire point of why McLaren pursued a partnership with Honda - because they wanted that kind of unique engine that would put them at almost the same level as both Ferrari and Mercedes as works-teams. How would such a tailored engine work on a car for a team with a fraction of the budget and resources? Would any team with a less sophisticated car be able to benefit from that kind of engine?
IMO - the less efficient your car is, the more you are reliant on a more traditional approach of having an engine that may be optimized towards power. Arguably, Williams benefited directly off this in 2014 when their quite simple car managed to outperform cars with inferior engines.
