Timeline: Mclaren's fall from grace in F1

3. Making Honda the scapegoat

McLarenHonda spent more time in the pits than on the track

This was a marriage that was supposed to work. This was a marriage that was supposed to lead them to greatness. This was a marriage that was supposed to give them the titles. But the Mclaren Honda partnership, in essence, never really took off. The engine in the first year was plagued with reliability issues to such an extent that the running on track was almost non-existential. Blamed on the demands of an ultra tight packaging by Mclaren the Honda product failed comprehensively in the first year. The situation was so bad that it led to Alonso shout "Gp2 Engine, Gp2 Engine" in Honda's home race at Suzuka. Bit by bit there were some improvements in the Honda engine but it just didn't seem enough. Mclaren created the narrative as such that the chassis part of the Mclaren Honda was good and they were plagued by the engine side. Different figures from different tracks were cited as reasons to show how it was not the chassis but the engine which had failed to deliver. Honda was humiliated throughout this partnership and ultimately the partnership ended.