The 'renewals' of McLaren and Williams
The recent announcement of the agreement between Williams and Mercedeswhich will guarantee the supply of power units made at the Brixworth headquarters to the historic British team until 2030, has rekindled the classic debate on the opportunity or otherwise – at a sporting level – of accept the role of 'client team' of another competitor. In addition to Williams, in view of the power unit regulatory revolution scheduled for 2026, McLaren had also chosen to remain in the Stuttgart company's orbit. Aston Martin, however, a current Mercedes customer, has preferred to change direction and from 2026 will be powered by Honda power units.
The Red Bull – Renault case
But Is being a client of a manufacturer really a disadvantage? For a team that aspires to win the title, one would say yes. In recent years, in fact, only the Red Bull in the four-year period 2010-2013 it managed to win championships despite being powered by an engine – the Renault one – which was also mounted at the same time on an official team present on the track. To be precise, in reality in the 2012 and 2013 seasons the Losanga company was not formally in the race, but the Lotus team was de facto a direct heir of the official team, comparable to what is now Alpine.
The era without manufacturers (except Ferrari)
Going back in time, such undertakings are even rarer, also because in the past – excluding the 'separate' case of Ferrari – it was rarer to see car manufacturers directly involved in the Grands Prix. More often there were 'exclusives' whereby a specific engineer committed himself to supporting a maximum of one or two reference teams. Celebrated in this sense the McLaren-Mercedes duo – before the Star company entered F1 directly – or those of the mid-90s such as Williams and Benetton, both supported by Renault.
A look at the future
In the next few years though this trend could perhaps change, at least partially. In a recent interview given to FormulaPassion.it Dario Scarfò, senior manager of the McLaren team, commented on the multi-year agreement between McLaren and Mercedes with great satisfaction: “Years ago I would have said that [essere un team cliente] it wasn't convenient to win. Now I'm saying it's convenient. They necessarily have to provide us with the same specification, not the one before or the one after, not 'experimental' engines. Everything is managed by our technicians. We are helped by them for the setup. It's a great partnership. They are very solid”.
The example of MotoGP
F1, however, still seems very far from level of internal 'battle' that MotoGP has reached. Just this year the Prima Pramac team, Ducati's main customer, won the world title reserved for teamsbecoming the first independent team to succeed in the feat. Jorge Martin, top driver of the same team, also challenged the official Pecco Bagnaia for the Drivers' title until the last race of the year. It will be interesting to understand if in the next few years there will also be the possibility of seeing title challenges between an official team and a 'customer' team in F1.
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