[David70]

Their chances of beating a manufacturer that runs their own factory team using one of their engines is close to zero. They had a chance with Honda as Honda didn't have a factory team. MB, Ferrari, Renault - factory teams virtually always do better than the teams they supply. If MB were to supply them an engine (I think highly unlikely), it would almost guarantee them that they would be the 2nd best team and almost guarantee them they will never be the best.

As for Honda, I think the money they spend on F1 was impossible to justify and it was strictly about trying to spend their money and resources in a way to increase sales. How many additional cars sales did their F1 program really generate? Can anyone here honestly say they know someone that was swayed to buy a Honda because of their F1 team?

Trying to justify the money based on technology transfer from F1 to daily drivers is impossible.