All options on the table for Honda fix - McLaren

McLaren executive director Zak Brown says all options are on the table in terms of finding a short-term fix to its current problems with power unit partners Honda.

Having expected to make a step forward over the winter, Honda suffered a number of reliability problems during pre-season testing while also failing to deliver outright performance. McLaren ended testing with the lowest mileage of any team and a clear deficit to its rivals, leading the team to sound out the possibility of a power unit deal with Mercedes.

As any contact with Mercedes was only informal in nature, Brown says the focus is on finding a lasting solution with Honda but admits McLaren needs a quick fix.

"Our communications are with Honda and we're trying to figure out with Honda what's the best long-term strategy but also we need some short-term results," Brown told RACER during an exclusive interview. "So I'm going to keep our solutions that we're working on with Honda to ourselves – we're going to be a good partner to them and work through the various scenarios. But we need to fix our situation quickly, so we're looking at all the different ways to do that."

Asked if the investment Honda has made in McLaren makes it harder to consider a switch to a different power unit supplier, Brown replied: "100%.

"They're great partners and great people. They'll get this right, we just need to do it as quickly as possible and explore all the different ways in which we can be as competitive as possible. Because we're very loyal to Honda but we have other partners who are expecting results, so we need to take care of our Honda partnership but we also need to take care of our Chandons, NTTs, Johnnie Walkers and SAPs of the world. They want some results."

Despite the current problems being faced by McLaren-Honda, Brown insists the partnership is still the right way for the team to achieve its target of winning the world championship again.

"Well, we want to win races, but we want to win races with Honda. I think the decision to go with Honda – which was pre-my time – was the right decision. I think at the end of the day you have to be a works team to win championships. Maybe not races – the other engines out there are very good and there are teams out there who are running at the front with customer engines.

"We've got a long history with Honda, they're spending what it takes, they're committed, so they're the right partner. We've just got a technical glitch that we need to work through very, very quickly."