McLaren could be just days away from pulling the plug on its Formula One engine deal with Honda and announcing a partnership with Renault.
During the Italian Grand Prix, high-level Renault officials were seen meeting with McLaren executives and after another disappointing race where both of its cars retired, McLaren could be on the verge of pulling the plug on its disastrous Honda engine deal, Sky Sports reports.
Neither Mercedes or Ferrari are willing to provide McLaren with engines, leaving Honda and Renault as the team’s only options. It is reported that Renault doesn’t want to add a fourth engine supply deal meaning an existing Renault customer would have to source its engine from elsewhere if McLaren wants to jump onboard.
That team could be Toro Rosso. The outfit has never been more than a mid-field team used to develop Red Bull drivers but seeing it switch from Renault to Honda engines could open the doors to it becoming a more competitive team, if the Japanese engine manufacturers gets its act together.
Speaking to the media during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, McLaren boss Zak Brown said the dilemma will be “one of the biggest decisions McLaren has ever had to make.”
“The engine manufacturers are not geared up for additional teams at this point,” he said. “Everyone is trying to work together and we anticipate some decisions this week. I think once the main domino falls, everything else will fall into place.”
It is widely thought that Fernando Alonso will only stay with the McLaren team if it switches to Renault power.
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