McLaren ’only two weeks behind’ - Boullier

Eric Boullier insists the long-running ’will they or won’t they?’ McLaren-Honda divorce saga has only slightly delayed the British team’s preparations for 2018.

Although the split was only made official in Singapore, the McLaren team boss says the team is actually only two weeks behind schedule.

"Obviously for a while we will have to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to compensate for the two weeks that have passed since the optimal decision-making time," he said.

"But it is quite possible to catch up those two weeks," Frenchman Boullier is quoted by international media reports.

And Boullier said that any delay will also be compensated by Renault’s better engines next year.

"Next year there will be no compromises," he insisted.

"Of course, we do not have experience with Renault’s power unit, unlike some other teams, so we will have to get used to that. But we believe in our engineers."

Not only that, he said development of McLaren’s Honda-powered 2017 car will continue.

"We will increase our workload to compensate for the delay, and then return to our normal schedule of work," said Boullier.

"The transition to another manufacturer of power units will not change our approach. There will be no revolution, only evolution," he added.