Hard for McLaren to adapt - Honda

The size of McLaren's organization makes it "very systematic" and results in the team finding it "hard to adapt to change," according to the general manager of Honda's motorsport division.

Honda and McLaren announced they will part ways last week, with the Japanese manufacturer partnering with Toro Rosso while McLaren will receive Renault power units in 2018. Following three difficult years, Masashi Yamamoto says the potential to work with a team that is still young and developing is a positive opportunity for Honda to have a greater influence.

"Working with McLaren, I've realized that they are a very big company which is very systematic," Yamamoto told the Honda Racing F1 website. "It's obviously very strong because of that but at the same time they can find it hard to adapt to change.

"Compare that to Toro Rosso – it is a company that is growing. It is very important for us to work in partnership together, heading towards the same goal. So for us we are very much looking forward to being able to work closer.

"Take this for an example: If we compare both teams with different cuisines, let's say McLaren is a very sophisticated French cuisine, that's the way it is. Then Toro Rosso is more like a countryside, homemade delicious stew where you can add new ingredients. We're excited to do that."

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Honda adopted McLaren's "size zero" philosophy for its first two seasons back in F1, but this year changed the concept to fall in line with a more conventional approach to the V6 turbo power units.

Admitting that Honda would have preferred to stay with McLaren and have found a successful solution for the partnership, Yamamoto sees great potential in the new Toro Rosso collaboration.

"First, [Toro Rosso team principal] Mr. [Franz] Tost knows a lot about Japan. He understands the culture and it's a good communication that we have. We have seen that they also have a young factory and are growing, which for Honda is very important because we can work with the same mentality and have the same approach. It is a new start with a team with a similar mindset to move forward together."

"Toro Rosso and Honda will start working together immediately and for the coming years. However, before that we have the rest of the 2017 season to complete with McLaren, so a good communication between us is still very important, as well as a good performance in the remaining races."