McLaren Formula 1 remains committed to its relationship with Honda despite the early season struggles, team exec Zak Brown said. Reports that McLaren is exploring a potential return to Mercedes and end to its multi-year agreement with the Japanese manufacturer surfaced after the team went through no fewer than seven Honda power units in preseason testing. Brown is well aware of those issues, but he told SBD Global that the British team has no intention of ending its partnership with Honda. "We’ve struggled in testing, that was a bit of a surprise to us in terms of where we expected to be," McLaren’s exec director said before Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. "We have to work closely with Honda and see what influence we can have, but certainly our start to testing is not what we have hoped for." McLaren failed to score points on Sunday, with drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso finishing outside of the top 10 at Melbourne’s Albert Park. Vandoorne finished 13th, while Alonso retired his car after 50 laps. "We’ve got a great team that is looking to fix problems and not hide from them," Brown said. "We have to get on it, and Honda has to get on it. It’s not a great situation." Comments by Alonso, a two-time world champion who called Honda’s power units unreliable and lacking power, did not help smooth things over. Honda returned to F1 in ‘15 after a seven-year hiatus. Brown expects Honda to catch up to the other manufacturers in terms of performance and reliability, something that the company has shown it is capable of doing throughout various racing series. "We are committed to them, and they are committed to us," he said. "We think we can get the job done, so we need to work with them to get it done."
