Watch One of F1’s Greatest Partnerships Fire Up Their New Rocket

We couldn’t be more excited to see McLaren and Honda teaming up again, and now that we’ve gotten an earful of the new engine Honda’s bringing to F1, all we can say is: More, please.

For those who don’t know, McLaren-Honda is one of the most most successful partnerships in F1 history. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the team utterly dominated with drivers Aryton Senna and Alain Prost getting the most from amazing cars powered by Honda’s turbocharged engines. The MP4/4 of 1988 remains one of the most successful racing cars ever, and the team won both the driver’s championship and constructor’s championship each year from 1988 until 1991.

McLaren—which has stumbled in recent years, and not won a championship of any kind since 2008—hopes to regain some of that magic and take down Mercedes, which utterly dominated the 2014 season. The team recently released a video showcasing the MP4-29H/1X1, a development car built around the new Honda engine, testing at the Silverstone Circuit last month. McLaren and Honda ran the car again during post-season testing in Abu Dhabi, but only completed a few laps due to electrical problems. Not to worry, though. There’s plenty of time before the 2015 season kicks off with the Australian Grand Prix We suspect/hope they’ll will get the kinks worked out and will be ready to challenge Mercedes in March when the 2015 season kicks of with the Australian Grand Prix during the weekend of March 12.

To win a championship, a Formula One team needs a great car, a great engine, great drivers, and a little of luck. Mercedes had all of those in abundance this year. Despite some reliability issues, drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who placed one-two in the driver’s championship, won 16 of 19 races between them. There’s no reason to think Mercedes won’t be strong again this year, and everyone will be doing their best to catch up.

Now that it’s paired with Honda once again, McLaren might be in the best position to challenge Mercedes. Beyond teaming up with Honda to develop a brand-new power unit, McLaren is widely expected to sign Fernando Alonso, arguably one of the most talented drivers on the grid. We’ve just wrapped up a great season, but here’s hoping we get a little more excitement at the front of the grid next year.