McLaren F1 Exec Dir Zak Brown Says Honda Hindered Team's Appeal To Sponsors

McLaren Formula 1 Exec Dir Zak Brown conceded that the team's former engine supplier, Honda, stopped the team "from attracting new sponsorship deals," according to SPORT 24. McLaren and Honda have "gone their separate ways" after a three-year period that was "riddled with reliability and performance issues." Brown confirmed that it "stopped the team developing from a commercial perspective as well." Brown: "Fortunately, I have experience in this area but I knew that during the season, you wouldn't find any new partners when you have the problems we had. We could not sell to potential sponsors the story that things will get better next year. That was one of the reasons why we needed a new engine supplier." McLaren reportedly has two major sponsors to announce over the offseason, with one of them rumored to be Brazilian oil company Petrobras (SPORT 24, 12/11).