McLaren knew it was in difficulty from winter testing

McLaren quickly understood that his 2017 season would be complicated. The Woking structure immediately identified significant performance and reliability concerns with the Honda Power Unit during winter testing in Barcelona (Spain). This delay in development prompted the British team to look for another engine manufacturer, in this case Renault, for the next three seasons.

“I don’t think there was a particular moment since we knew we would be in trouble from the winter testing, confirmed the executive director of McLaren at a press conference in Singapore. However, we needed to improve on our results from 2016. We spent a lot of time trying to make Honda competitive with us. We didn't succeed, but it's a very good thing that they remain in the discipline. »

McLaren now has a good chance of retaining Fernando Alonso whose contract ends at the end of the year.

“We will now focus our attention on Fernando, explained Zak Brown. We had many discussions. He was waiting to see what technical solution we were going to offer him. He won two titles with Renault. He is very happy with his team and we are very satisfied with him. We should be able to sign something and complete the puzzle in the near future. I will then have to find financial partners in order to be ready for next year. »