The son of Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motor Company, has spoken words of sympathy for Fernando Alonso and the poor results that the engine provided.
The partnership between McLaren and Honda was a complete disaster in many terms. Three years of partnership ended up with many complains, unreliability, moaning and lack of power. McLaren could not afford another horrible year and decided they had enough, and the divorce was inevitable.
Now Hirotoshi Honda, in a recent interview spoke with kind words about Alonso and showed again the Japanese ethos and culture.
I understand very well the reason for Alonso’s great disappointment. The professional life of a sportsman is very short and it is very stressful to lose three years at such an important time in his career. Alonso is a young man, so intelligent and captivating. I understand very easily the reason for his great disappointment.
Also, Hirotoshi recalled a memory of his father, Soichiro Honda, back when Ayrton Senna was still driving a McLaren Honda car.
He was a true fighter, he hated to be second and had to win. He always said, shortly before his death, when Ayrton Senna could no longer win with McLaren-Honda, my father complained about this situation from his hospital bed. He died on 5 August 1991 (at the age of 84) and a few days later, on the 11th, Ayrton won the Hungarian Grand Prix wearing a black band on his arm. When we heard the news, my family and I cried.
