Boullier slams "disaster" Honda-McLaren partnership

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier has called the team's three-year partnership with engine suppliers Honda "a proper disaster".

McLaren confirmed on Friday that the team will curtail their agreement with Honda at the end of the season, bringing to an end a partnership that failed to deliver a single podium finish in three seasons and which Boullier says undermined the Woking-based team's credibility with sponsors.

"When you look at the last three years it's been a proper disaster for us in terms of credibility and getting new sponsors," Boullier told Formula1.com

"You have to take the long-term view - in the next five years I am absolutely sure that we will go back to where McLaren belongs. 

"And with this bouncing back we get our credibility back and it will rebuild our sponsor portfolio. It might take two to three years."

McLaren have now signed a contract with Renault to provide the team's engines from 2018, but Boullier says Honda were struggling to hit their performance targets even during winter testing in Barcelona.

"The crucial moment was after the Barcelona testing, when we tried to work and help Honda to improve the situation in a very short time, including having discussions with the other engine manufacturers, and without going into details, it became obvious that they again would miss the target that we had agreed for the season," he continued.

"Then by the summer we knew that we had to take a decision, to stay or not to stay. I can't say a date, but there had been a couple of targets missed by summer."

Honda paid $100m [£75m] to McLaren through free engines, sponsorship funding and contributions to drivers' salaries, but Boullier played down the financial hit the team has taken by ending the partnership.

"We are ninth in the championship – with a top engine I think we would be fourth right now and just on the FOM [Formula One Management] money we could cover the engine side, so it will not be a big risk on the monetary side," he said.

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Photo Getty Images/Mark Thompson

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