F1 Analysis: Why McLaren's partnership with Renault is a win-win situation for nearly every party involved in F1

Red Bull and Toro Rosso

Sister Teams!

Dietrich Mateschitz is the Austrian billionaire who owns two teams in F1, namely Red Bull (from the company he co-founded) and Toro Rosso. From Red Bull, he gets a ton of sponsorships, championship winnings but from Toro Rosso, he doesn't get much more than just a breeding ground for the big boys of Red Bull. This partnership with Honda might be the culmination of the time when Toro Rosso hasn't been a very viable business venture for Mateschitz.

It has been a well-known fact that Honda were funding McLaren in millions and even paying a part of their drivers' salaries. Now that Toro Rosso will have greater access to funds, it signifies a very appealing deal to the Faenza-based team. Moreover, things haven't been all rosy between Red Bull and Renault in the turbo era and if Honda indeed make a remarkable turnaround and figure out a way to improve their PU significantly, Red Bull can switch over to Honda and become a semi-works team, which was the sole intention of McLaren in 2015. This move can potentially result in bringing back Championships to Milton Keynes after their golden run concluded in 2013.

As for Carlos Sainz's move to Renault, they have cunningly sent him on loan for 2018 and expect him to come back in the hunt for 2019. This not only provides the ambitious Spaniard to prove himself in a bigger team as he has been dying to do, but also ensures that when the driver market is open and Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen possibly leave Red Bull, they have a very experienced and talented driver waiting in the wings to fill the big void in the team.