McLaren executive director Zak Brown has conceded there is a possibility the British team could look “silly” if Honda turns around their engine problems in 2018 with Toro Rosso.
Last month it was confirmed McLaren would end their partnership with the Japanese manufacturer and switch to Renault, with whom Red Bull won last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
Though it was seen as a common sense decision to look elsewhere, after three years of problems and under-performance, the resources and work Honda is putting in to improve in was enough to tempt Red Bull into allowing them to supply Toro Rosso, with motorsport advisor Helmut Marko revealing he’d be keeping a close eye on their progress.
Indeed, the Austrian energy drinks giant could be the big beneficiary of the engine swap deal after being equally frustrated by Renault’s inability to close the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari since 2014, a frustration that could now be felt by Brown and McLaren.
“Obviously if Honda start to win in 2018 and we do not, we will seem silly,” he told Spanish daily Marca, albeit offering a far from likely scenario. “But I think that everyone has to make their decisions, stick with it and accept the results that come.
“I think at the time that you take a decision always there is an element of ‘what if we are wrong?’ But I think everyone has done their homework and it was a group decision that was not easy.”
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For Brown, he sees the decision as comparable to the one-off expansion McLaren did earlier this year when they teamed up with Honda and Andretti Autosport to allow Fernando Alonso the chance to add another leg of the Triple Crown.
“It is similar to Indianapolis,” he claimed “There were some who said ‘what if Alonso is injured? And what if we lose a great opportunity in Monaco?’ but fortunately he drove perfectly and (Jenson) Button started from the pit lane.
“We have to move forward and not look back,” he added.
