Back in the day the two were literally joined at the hip, collaborating on the Mercedes-Benz SLR Mclaren program and being the automaker’s partner of choice in Formula One but McLaren and Mercedes-Benz soon parted ways and severed all ties.
Mercedes-Benz went on to sell their stake in the McLaren team and bought over another Formula One team to try and make it on their own in the pinnacle of motorsports. Both parties also developed their own supercars to succeed the SLR McLaren, with McLaren about to release the MP4-12C that has been getting rave reviews from the motoring community, including being called the ‘world’s most complete supercar at the moment’ by a respected motoring journalist, and Stuggart produced their own SLS AMG, a throwback to the glory days of the Gullwing.
The last remaining tie between the two is on the Formula One circuit with McLaren still running Mercedes-Benz engines on their machines. Nonetheless, the success McLaren has had in designing their own engine for the MP4-12C, a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8, has sparked whispers that they could be designing their own Formula One engines as well.
However, team principal Martin Whitmarsh doesn’t quite see it as the next step although he hasn’t actually outright ruled out the possibility either. If they do decide to run on their own power though, it won’t be this season as testing and development on the McLaren machine is almost completed with the season opening Aussi GP just around the corner.
Source: Autoblog
