McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier says that the team wants to resolve its engine situation for 2018 in September, amid uncertainty over its relationship with Honda.
McLaren reunited with Honda in 2015 but the partnership has been plagued by a lack of reliability and performance, following up ninth in the standings with sixth last season.
Honda introduced a revised power unit design ahead of the 2017 campaign but teething problems severely hindered prospects, leaving Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne on the backfoot.
Amid the stagnating situation, McLaren heaped criticism on Honda, as it explored whether to sever the partnership and seek an alternative solution.
Boullier has indicated that McLaren wants to finalise its 2018 plans next month.
“Technically you could change an engine in 12 weeks, let’s say,” he said.
“You can change it any time before the season up until let’s say three months before.
“[But] now test dates are released, it’s going to be September, if you want to do the base design around an engine, September.”
Honda has made progress with its Spec 3 power unit, initially introduced in Azerbaijan, before being raced for the first time by Vandoorne in Austria.
The gains assisted Vandoorne in making Q3 in Britain before Alonso captured McLaren’s best result of the campaign by taking sixth at the most recent event in Hungary.
On Honda’s season, boss Yusuke Hasegawa said: “This is [the] third year, we should show more performance, we are very disappointed
“But [we] don’t stop any development, I cannot tell when it will come but we will have another update very soon.”
Discussion about this post