F1 in talks to keep Honda on grid even if McLaren decide to end deal and switch to Renault engines

The relationship between Honda and McLaren is at an all-time low and a switch to Renault is currently being discussed

Eric Boullier and Zak Brown have held discussions with Renault about switching McLaren's engine supplier (Getty)

Formula One chiefs are attempting to put a plan in place that will keep Honda on the grid even if McLaren axe the Japanese engine supplier for Renault following positive talks over the weekend at the Italian Grand Prix.

The sight of McLaren’s third double-retirement of the season did nothing to help the ailing relationship between the Woking team and Honda, whose return to F1 has been nothing short of a farce. The Honda power unit has been consistently the weakest of the four engine suppliers in the sport for the last three seasons, and McLaren’s results have suffered dramatically as a result.

This season’s frustrations, which sees Fernando Alonso down in 15th place in the drivers’ championship and Stoffel Vandoorne three positions below, has led McLaren to enter talks with Renault over a new deal for 2018, with the French manufacturer’s F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul meeting with McLaren executive director Zak Brown as well as Renault’s Alain Prost at Monza over the weekend.

However, FIA president Jean Todt met with both F1 chairman Chase Carey and Honda’s Masashi Yamamoto at Monza to discuss a plan to keep Honda in the sport, with one potential solution appearing to be a switch to the Toro Rosso outfit. Renault have made it clear that they will only work with McLaren if they drop their supply to Toro Rosso, with Abiteboul confirming they cannot go beyond their three-team supply due to current concerns over reliability.

The likelihood is that the confusion will be solved this week, with McLaren keen to reach an agreement so that they can commit to building their 2018 car in the knowledge of what power unit it will have. But that will not stop senior F1 officials trying to salvage a deal that will see Honda maintain a strong presence in the sport, even if their project with McLaren ends in failure.

"We don't want to lose Honda," Sean Bratches, F1 commercial chief, told Autosport. "Honda is a long and valued partner of F1.

"We're trying to do everything we can to encourage the respective parties to keep them in the sport and grow because we think there's a huge opportunity going forward for everyone involved in F1.

"We need everybody in this sport to have a good business.”

The issue for McLaren is that despite the allure of rekindling one of the most famous relationships in F1 history, the time has come for the team to admit defeat. Having attempted to recreate the glory years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, McLaren-Honda have three fifth-place finishes as their best results over the last three seasons, and senior officials at the British team are fully aware that sooner or later they will have to cut their losses if they want to challenge for race victories once again.

"It is complicated because you want to do the best for F1 as well, it is not only for McLaren," said McLaren racing director Eric Boullier, a former team principal for Renault.

McLaren will hope to have their 2018 future sorted out this week (Getty)

"Whatever will happen, and it is a good collaborative work with all the parties in the paddock, we all try to make the best of the situation.

"But I will not comment more than this."