In 2015 the team made a profit £5.2m on turnover of £188m. However, as prize money always reflects the performance of the previous season, the team’s ninth place in its first campaign with Honda contributed to turnover falling by £8m to £180m in 2016.

The significance of the numbers is that the team made a loss even with free Honda engines and substantial financial support from the Japanese manufacturer.

Next season, McLaren will have to pay for its customer Renault engines, although marketing deals – for example connected to use of Renault branding on the cars – are likely to reduce the cost.

It is nevertheless clear that the Woking-based outfit faces a huge challenge to balance the books in the near future, especially as prize money in 2018 will be impacted by a likely ninth place this season.

The figures also reveal that McLaren spent £23.7m on car development in 2016, up by £4.6m on the previous year, as it prepared for the major changes to the 2017 regulations.

McLaren remains bullish about its future prospects, with Jonathan Neale noting in the strategic report: “On track our chassis has shown excellent results throughout the 2017 season with good correlation between testing and on track performance.

"We believe our new partnership with Renault Sport will provide a powertrain that, once combined with our chassis, will provide us with opportunities to achieve our goals and win races in the near future.”