Having realised as early as the opening pre-season test that Honda had not made progress over the inter, but rather taken a couple of steps back, despite the claims in public that all was well McLaren began to put out feelers for a new engine supplier. Calling on the successful relationship his team had built with Mercedes between 1995 and 2014, Mansour Ojjeh contacted Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche to ask if a customer deal might be possible for 2018. While Toto Wolff was keen to resurrect the partnership, albeit with McLaren now a customer, the subsequent talks between the two parties went on for so long that it was no longer possible for the German manufacturer to put the necessary...
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