Sauber have announced that its longstanding engine deal with Ferrari will come to an end at the end of the 2017 Formula 1 season, with a switch to Honda Power Units agreed for 2018. 

The Swiss team will become the Japanese manufactuuers' first customer team since it returned to the sport as exclusive supplier to McLaren in 2015. 

Although McLaren-Honda has struggled since the two reunited, the long-suspected Sauber-Honda deal will enable the Japanese company the ability to have more available data and more cars on track to try and improve performance and reliability. 

The start to 2017 for Honda has been marked with a seies of engine failures and severe unreliabilty, with Stoffel Vandoorne taking a 15 place grid penalty for the Russian Grand Prix, after taking a fifth Turbocharger and MGU-K, in just the fourth round of the season.

McLaren and Sauber will hope that they can push and develop the Honda power unit into a winning one quickly. (Image Credit: Alexander
McLaren and Sauber will hope that they can push and develop the Honda power unit into a winning one quickly. (Image Credit: Alexander Demianchuk/Getty Images)

Star driver, Fernando Alonso has already criticised the new power-unit, whcih features a revised layout similiar to that of the Mercedes, putting on reocrd his belief that the troubles are all the fault of Honda, commenting in Bahrain, that he "had never raced with less power in my life."

Huge excitement and new opportunities

In the statement released confirming the new partnership, Sauber Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn said: “It is a great honor for the Sauber F1 Team to be able to work together with Honda in the coming seasons.

"We have set another milestone with this new engine era, which we await with huge excitement and of course we are looking for new opportunities. We very much look forward to our partnership with Honda, which sets the course for a successful future – from a strategic as well as from a technological perspective. We thank Honda for making this great partnership happen.

""Our realignment is not just visible through the new ownership but also now with our new technological partnership with Honda."

After struggling finnancially since BMW pulled out of F1 in 2009, and sold the team back to Peter Sauber, under new ownership, linked to driver Marcus Ericsson, the long-term future of the Hinwil based will has been secured. 

Dominant strength as soon as possible

Honda's Chief Officer for Brand and Communication Operations, Katsuhide Moriyama confirmed Honda's excitement at the partnership and determination to return to winning ways as quickly as possible. 

He said: " In addition to the partnership with McLaren which began in 2015, Honda will begin supplying power units to Sauber as a customer team starting from next year. This will be a new challenge in Honda’s F1 activities.

"In order to leverage the benefits of supplying to two teams to the maximum extent, we will strengthen the systems and capabilities of both of our two development operations, namely HRD Sakura and the operation in Milton Keynes. We will continue our challenges so that our fans will enjoy seeing a Honda with dominant strength as soon as possible.”

 

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