Renault Sport F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul says new partner McLaren will eventually impact its engine design, but likely not in the first two years of its collaboration.
Many believe part of Honda's failure to deliver a competitive and reliable package to McLaren was rooted in the specific design constraints imposed on the Japanese manufacturer by the Woking-based oufit's engineers.
As a Renault customer however, McLaren was required to adapt its 2018 MCL33 chassis to the specifics of its new partner's V6 hybrid unit.
According to Abiteboul, McLaren likely won't influence its engine design until 2020, the final year of the team's three-year deal with Renault.
"It's a bit complex," Abiteboul said. "First and foremost, we developed a complete power unit before working with McLaren, so it's not like with Honda, where Honda was dependent upon McLaren - we have the whole parameters of the power unit under our responsibility.
"I think we will take it step by step. We want to be very pragmatic. Clearly for 2018 and even 2019, it's very late for McLaren to have any influence on the hardware of the engine."
Abiteboul underlined however the manufacturer's receptivity to change and to new engineering ideas originating from its partner.
"Having said that, we want to be humble. We accept that we can improve our product, that we have to improve our product, and we will be open to their suggestion.
"I think it's more on the medium to long-term. First, we have to accept it's a new relationship, we will have to see how it evolves, but if it's working well, if it's a fruitful and positive relationship, then there is no reason it could not go further than this cycle of regulation.
"And therefore that we can have a different and more connected way of working together for the medium to long-term future. But it's not something for before 2020 in my opinion."
Interestingly, Abiteboul's comments are void of any mention of Red Bull Racing's own relationship with Renault, its main engine partner since 2007.
Needless to say, the omission is just another confirmation that the Milton Keynes-based team's options for next year appear limited to... Honda.
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