Honda's future in Formula 1

Honda's return to Formula 1 has been plagued by catastrophic failure. The sharp criticism received from McLaren itself, the crew members, the drivers, most notably Fernando Alonso's "GP2 engine" radio transmission at the Suzuka Grand Prix in 2015, as well as McLaren's fans who have blasted Honda's Formula 1 social media pages with messages of hate.

The lack of real improvement in two seasons of Formula 1 and that trend continued for their third season of winter testing, with Honda putting in by far the fewest laps, and enduring daily engine failures, has marred what was at one time a strong legacy during the Senna Era.

With the failures Honda has brought to the team and the massive amounts of criticism, how long can we assume that Honda will remain in the top level of Motorsport?

They may not be able hang around much longer, and we may never see them in Formula 1 again if they exit the sport on the note they are on. Lack of results do not shine well on a manufacturer, the problem with Honda, however, is they have failed to produce even a competent engine for the 2017 rules that only allow the use of 4 power units through the season. Rumors of a desperation engine provider change for McLaren have been circulating since testing, and it may not be long before some changes are announced.

Sources suggest that it may take up to six months to create a car that is completely compatible with the car, but it may be something for McLaren to consider as there is a real possibility of not even finishing the Australian Grand Prix as the engine has not been able to survive a single race distance simulation in testing.

Although Honda's engines are available to be distributed to other teams, which could be considered for teams that are running old Mercedes engines such as Force India and Sauber, but if the engine does not even have the potential to so much as finish a Grand Prix, they will not even be considered an option as it would have no use.

Honda is in dire straits for reliability, and we do not even know if their engine posses solid power as they cannot be ran at full power capabilities. At this point in time, usage of Honda engines benefits absolutely nobody. If their critical issues are not resolved in the next few races, we may never again see a Honda power unit on track ever again.

Photo source: Black Flag Jalopnik