Sauber say they're confident 2018 engine partner Honda will have resolved "all of the issues" which have so far plagued their return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier.
Honda returned to the sport in an exclusive deal with McLaren back in 2015, but have been unable to get on performance and reliability terms with rival suppliers Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault.
Just four races into the 2017 season and McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne has already taken a grid penalty for using too many power unit components – a fifth turbocharger and MGU-H – an amount which is expected to last 20 rounds.
Sauber, which has signed a deal to switch from Ferrari to Honda next year, aren't too concerned though, with team boss Monisha Kaltenborn confident the issues will be resolved before their deal begins.
"Well, we certainly expect that they’ll have sorted out all the issues they have been facing so far and we expect that to also happen still in this season," she said on Friday.
"Looking at the talks we’ve had with Honda and having seen their facilities, knowing how determined they are, we have no reason to doubt that."
Kaltenborn confirmed talks with other parties were held, but Honda were the best option for the future: "It’s been going on for some time but, you know, we looked at all the options we had. We had a couple of talks [with other suppliers] going on for a long time."
Discussion about this post