Boullier: "McLaren and Honda could take a break"

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier has not ruled out the possibility of McLaren taking a break from Honda and then reuniting when they gert up to speed in Formula 1. The Japanese manufacturer has struggled massively since it signed a deal with McLaren to supply them with engines from 2015 onwards.

However, the partnership has been a disaster as McLaren is consistently hit with reliability issues and are by far the slowest in a straight line. Honda has already secured its place on the 2018 grid, as they will be providing engines to Sauber.

"On paper, it's a good strategy," Boullier told Britain's Sky Sports. "If you can run a (different) engine for the time being until Honda is competitive, then why not? This is one of the various scenarios we may have considered," he added.

Former Grand Prix driver Marc Surer says that Alonso was sending confusing signals over the weekend: "This weekend, Fernando has been sending confusing signals. McLaren was not competitive at Baku and yet he was saying things are going well for him. He also said he would win races in 2018, so what does he know that we do not? 

"I have learned over the years that Fernando often implies something with a hidden message, or sometimes he is provoking a situation or being ironic. Basically, we can only speculate about his situation at the moment," he added.

Fergal Walsh