McLaren reject wild Honda divorce rumours

McLaren have played down the wild rumours that they are set to split from engine suppliers Honda. The team have suffered from problems in the first couple days of pre-season testing.

Despite entering the third year of the partnership, Honda is still suffering from problems that have plagued them since re-entering the sport in 2015.

An oil tank design flaw was discovered on day one, Stoffel Vandoorne's engine was returned to Japan following a problem on day two, and Fernando Alonso had to run with 'de-rated' settings on day three.

McLaren team boss Eric Boullier has described it as any other marriage that has issues: "Like any marriage, there are ups and downs. We are supposed to ditch Honda? No. There is no plan at all."

Honda's F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa has said that he hopes the issues will be ironed out in pre-season, and apologises to the drivers.

"I can only apologise to the drivers. I do not hide that we have difficulties, but such situations are what testing is for. Our relationship is better all the time. I cannot compare it to 2015, because I was not there, but we are a team and we behave as such.

"We would like to introduce the latest version of the engine and test it as soon as possible. So next week we will have another engine and it will have changes."

 

Fergal Walsh

Replies (1)

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  • Even if it would happen, they would probably deny it until the very last millionth of a second.

    • + 0
    • Mar 2 2017 - 19:17

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