Formula One "They could even become competitive this year"

Boullier: China will expose McLaren's weakness

McLaren's start to the 2017 Formula One season has been plagued by issues with their Honda engine, but expert Joan Villadelprat believes that the problems can be solved.

Honda's F1 head Yusuke Hasegawa has revealed exactly what went wrong during the off-season and, upon hearing his reasoning, Villadelprat is confident that McLaren can regain competitiveness this season.

"I feel calmer, having heard Honda's explanations," the former Ferrari and Benetton mechanical chief told MARCA.

"I would say that [McLaren's engine issues] are fixable with money, pressure and hard work.

"They could even become competitive this year.

"If the structure is good then the rest is to do with intake and electronics and Honda can secure that."

Specifically, Hasegawa revealed that initial testing had been positive, but that the problems arose at the Christmas break, by which point it was too late.

"We achieved a very good level with the single-cylinder test, but when we transferred exactly the same specification to the V6 engine we had many problems and it did not work," he told Autosport in an honest interview.

"When we installed the gearbox, the shafts and the tyres, we saw that there were repercussions and we had major vibrations.

"The only thing I can say is that we didn't have this big a problem in testing."

That kind of single-cylinder engine experiment is a very common cost-cutting practice in the sport, but Honda's problem was that there was too little time to rectify their issues once they were discovered.

Fortunately for them and for McLaren, Villadelprat is convinced that a reliable engine can eventually be produced, even if it takes some time to prepare.