The last time McLaren won a Formula 1 championship was back in 2008. Lewis Hamilton, in his second year in F1, wrapped up the driver’s championship to win his maiden F1 title. The last time McLaren won the Constructors’ championship was even before that in the 1998 season. According to David Croft, this title drought for the Woking-based team is bound to continue until they secure themselves a works engine deal. Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, the 53-year-old presenter echoed the sentiments of legendary McLaren boss, Ron Dennis.
He said, “You don’t win as a customer very regularly. You don’t win championships as a customer. You’ve got to have a works deal. Which is why Aston Martin have moved heaven and earth to get that works deal [Honda]. Which is why Red Bull [are] making their own power trains as a works team.”
Currently, McLaren get their power units from the Mercedes team – who also supply power units to Aston Martin and Williams. Croft lauded the zeal of Aston Martin to cut their customer shackles and get a Honda works deal for 2026. He also cited the likes of Red Bull and historically how successful Ferrari have been as a proper factory outfit.
The importance of having a works deal or be manufacturing your own engines is going to be even more apparent come 2026. The 2026 regulations focuses majorly on the power unit side of things, and any detail in that area could either make or break the championship fortunes for a team like McLaren.
The advantage of being a works outfit in Formula 1
Historically, the ratio of successful works teams and customer teams is substantially in favour of the former. Red Bull are acutely aware of this. Hence, they decided to compete with their own power units under the banner of Red Bull Power Trains from 2026 in partnership with Ford.
As highlighted by Croft before, even Aston Martin have chosen to cut their ties with Mercedes. This is not only down to the engine performance but the fact that with Honda, they get a works deal which means that the engine will be developed and manufactured specifically for the team and will be tailor-made to their specifications. The performance rewards of this are staggering.
The power of a ‘home-grown’ engine is evident by the success that teams like Mercedes and Ferrari have enjoyed in the past. Mercedes has even won eight consecutive Constructors’ titles on the back of their highly-successful turbo-hybrid concept from 2014 to 2021.
As things stand, Mercedes and Ferrari supply engines to half the F1 grid. The Silver Arrows are contracted to McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams. Ferrari on the other hand supply power units to Sauber and Haas.
