The former Haas Formula 1 boss, Guenther Steiner, stated that McLaren should abandon the status of a customer team and develop its own power unit. In his view, the British manufacturer has enough resources to follow the example of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, who use their own engines on the current grid.
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McLaren has had different suppliers throughout its history, such as Mercedes, Honda, Peugeot, and Ford-Cosworth, but has never produced its own engine. According to Steiner, this external dependence ends up being used as an excuse when the team faces performance problems.
“They are a car manufacturer; they should make their own engine,” Steiner said on the podcast The Red Flags. “Because they always, when something goes wrong, say: ‘Ah, the engine, now we don’t have the same engine as Mercedes.’”
The former executive also mentioned the difficulties faced by the team with other suppliers: “They had problems with Renault at the time. They had problems with Honda. It’s always something. At some point, you need to be an adult, and they have enough money.”
Steiner highlighted that Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, has the ability to seek investments and make the project viable: “Zak is very good at selling this team, at getting sponsorship. Get the money, instead of putting it in the bank, make your own engine. I mean, that would send a message. Also, I think commercially, for their road cars, it would be a good thing. That’s my opinion on the matter, they should invest in it.”
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The former Haas boss cited Red Bull and Audi as examples of manufacturers who decided to invest in their own projects to gain independence. “Red Bull invested in this and is doing very well. Audi invested. They are a car manufacturer; they don’t want to buy an engine from Ferrari. They want to stand on their own feet, they want to be taken seriously.”
Despite defending the idea, Steiner acknowledged that creating a competitive engine in Formula 1 requires high investments and qualified professionals. “It’s not easy to make an engine, but I think the first obstacle is money and then people — as always when you do something, when you do business.”
For him, if McLaren is not satisfied with its current situation, the solution is to seek its own independence. “But at some point, if you’re not happy with what you have, and they aren’t, what you need to do — you need to do it yourself.”
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