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Good idea or not? Might not be a bad idea for Red Bull in the long run. With Honda's Indycar experience, they may play very well when the new engine regs get up. And RBR would eventually become the factory team they've always wanted to be.
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this speaks volumes
http://in.reuters.com/article/motor-f1-singapore-mclaren-honda/factbox-motor-racing-mclarens-partnership-with-honda-in-numbers-idINL4N1LU5OC
We hear that McLaren desperately want out of Honda (right when it is starting to look a bit better), and want to go to Renault, who basically acknowledge that they will never catch up under the existing regs.
Toro Rosso, who appear to dislike Renault, almost as much as McLaren dislike Honda, not only take Honda, but GIVE then Sainz for a year as a sweetener to cut the contract. We even hear that Renault tried for Ricciardo. Why was a sweetener needed if Renault wanted McLaren anyway, and why were Toro Rosso so keen to accept the deal?
Concurrent with this, is the (what appears to be deliberately ambiguous) announcement from Red Bull that they are going with Aston Martin as a major branding partner. Seriously, WTF is that all about?? Aston Martin is owned by various interests, including a large stake held by Italian interests, as well as 5% owned by MB. Going forward, Aston Martin road cars will have Merc engines, so I'll put the question again; WTF?
Aston Martin is itself not in good financial straits. Six consecutive years of losses, and declining sales volumes, which themselves have seen the company shift its target market focus a number of times (including of late, to rich women), do not point to a miracle from F1 advertising.
For most of us, this appears to be Red Bull paving the way for a lesser roll in F1, but it really does not seem likely that Aston Martin has any of the tools necessary to be a force in Formula One.
What we do hear is that Dear Dietrich is losing interest, and that Toro Rosso has been casually available for sale, but not actively so. Could be, that we see another announcement before the beginning of the 2018 season, that Toro Rosso has been sold to Honda as a works team?
And if we do, how would that tie into Red Bull branding Aston Martin, and IF they do brand Aston Martin, but then take Honda engines as part of some deal involving the sale of Toro Rosso, why on earth would Aston Martin be involved in a team that has Honda engines (and if they don't, Renault engines), when they themselves will have MB engines in their road cars?
Too many questions that don't appear to fit together.
Ten years later, he's still holding on to them. You all know how critical I was of the whole sale at the time but in hindsight, I don't think that factory has ever had as smooth a ride as over the past twelve years of Red Bull ownership.