Eric Boullier has told Sky Sports News HQ's Craig Slater that McLaren are considering all future engine options, including a temporary split from Honda. Eric Boullier has told Sky Sports News HQ's Craig Slater that McLaren are considering all future engine options, including a temporary split from Honda.

McLaren could return to Honda again, even if they divorce their engine partners at the end of the season, the team have confirmed to Sky Sports.

A temporary separation - already dubbed a 'soft Hoexit' in the paddock - is one of the options available to the team, Eric Boullier told Sky Sports News HQ's Craig Slater in Baku.

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"On paper it's a good strategy," Boullier said when asked about a short-term move to another engine provider. "If you can run an engine for the time being until Honda is competitive, then why not? This is one of the various scenarios we may have considered."

The McLaren-Honda outfit are yet to score a point this season and, after slumping to a new low in qualifying for the Azerbaijan GP, team chief Boullier described the weekend as the "most painful I have ever had."

Earlier, McLaren shareholder Mansour Ojjeh said Honda had "completely underestimated the job," adding: "we've never been so uncompetitive in F1".

Pressed on just when an announcement on their 2018 engine plans could be, Boullier said: "We don't have a date yet, but we say now it is a question of weeks."

Were McLaren to divorce Honda, the team are likely to reunite with Mercedes, but Mercedes have stressed they will only consider a deal with McLaren once their ties with Honda have been severed.

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, claims McLaren's decision makes no difference to him as he insists he will be racing for a winning team in 2018 regardless of the power unit they have.

"Zak [Brown], Jonathan [Neale] and I are talking to [shareholders] Sheikh Mohamed and Mansour Ojjeh about the various strategies," added Boullier. "The racing will be priority. Racing means we have to win again and we have to be where we belong.

"In terms of Fernando, you have a team's strategy and a driver's strategy. By definition, a driver is selfish and he wants to have the best car and the best opportunity to win. At the same time the team is seeking the best driver because you want to have the best combination. So we have to make sure both agendas are matching.

"We want Fernando to stick with us because we want to be back at the front as soon as possible."

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