Brown: Renault deal isn’t a short-term fix

Zak Brown is adamant McLaren’s switch to Renault engines for 2018 is not a “short-term fix” but the start of a “long-term partnership.”

McLaren announced in Singapore that they would be parting with Honda at the end of this season, bringing that ill-fated relationship to an early conclusion.

Moments later the Woking team confirmed that they would instead run Renault engines having signed a three-year deal.

But despite the deal only running for three years, McLaren chief Brown says he hopes that it is just the start of a successful long-term collaboration.

“No, this is not a short-term fix,” Brown insisted.

“At the end of the day, no one knows yet what the engine rules are in 2021, so I think it’s hard for anybody to look beyond 2020, because we don’t know what ’21 looks like.

“We think we’ve got a long-term partnership, the foundation for it.

“Renault’s got a great history in the sport, won a lot of championships with Red Bull, won a lot of championships themselves, so we’re very happy where we are.

“We think that we’ll be very competitive together.”