• Canadian Grand Prix 2015: Lewis Hamilton cruises to victory
Ron Dennis resumed control at the start of 2014, bringing in Eric Boullier as racing director, but if anything their fortunes have worsened. Their futures are increasingly on the line over this debacle if it continues into next year.
“Of the six [engine] components, we had three failures,” Boullier said. “There is a lot of work to be done because we are so far behind.
“It is easy to blame our partner but part of it is that it isn’t in our hands directly, but we have offered our help to accelerate the recovery period.
“Everyone is aware of the situation. We expect Honda to bring now some very fast solutions. Everyone knows where we are and what has to happen. It is Formula One and it is a public test every two weeks. It is the most watched sport in the world so it is important that Honda recover.”
Alonso’s terse radio message was the first sign that he is losing patience having moved from Ferrari. The $40 million (£26 million) he earns a year might help. Boullier conceded the message was probably a warning to Honda, but insisted the confrontational Spaniard has not thrown his toys out of the pram, yet.
• Canadian Grand Prix 2015: as it happened
“If it is still like this next year, Fernando maybe will go mad,” the Frenchman said. “But he is happy with the team and where he is now.”
Button, in the autumn of his career, has been the most measured about the situation, refusing to blame Honda in the manner Red Bull have repeatedly attacked Renault. The 2009 champion said: “It is one team, not Honda and McLaren, McLaren chose to work with Honda and that is the way it is. We won’t get a podium this year but we have to do the work, or you don’t deserve a podium.
“We all get frustrated. What else are we going to do? Some people go, â right this is the issue so let’s solve it quicker’. Throwing a brick through the window doesn’t help anybody.”
Boullier simply said that he wanted to avoid “s—fighting” in the press. Should their awful run of reliability continue – they have had eight non-finishes already this year – unity will suffer. For now, McLaren will send some of their IT and software specialists to Honda to try to pull the team out of the mire.