McLaren Honda - Where it went wrong and what lies ahead in Formula 1 2016

McLaren Honda had a painful season in 2015, to put it mildly.

Honda loves a challenge; but to go racing in 2015 with a 1.6 litre hybrid turbo engine, less than two years after making the decision to re-enter F1, was always going to be a step too far. Particularly when rivals like Mercedes have been working on hybrid F1 technology without let up since 2007/8.

And so it proved. World champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were bit part players, forlorn and impotent as others swept past them.

In this latest short video James Allen and former F1 chief engineer Dominic Harlow analyse the McLaren Honda 2015 story with presenter Holly Samos and look ahead to what 2016 might look like.

"It was just such a tall order for Honda to come back into F1 in 2015 with an engine compliant with the regulations, bearing in mind that they had not built an F1 engine since 2008 and they didn't even get a KERS system at the time. So they had to relearn everything about combustion and energy regeneration. To do that inside four units that you can barely change anything on, is almost technically impossible," says Harlow, who adds that with restrictions in power units, testing and development "it's going to be hard to bring through the kind of results McLaren are used to" in 2016.

Much can be done on architecture and on the ERS ahead of the homologation of the new engine in February. The acid test will be when the new car is tested that month and the extent of the step Honda engineers have made can be fully appreciated.

That is likely to lead Alonso to make a decision on whether he takes on another season of hard yards, or opts for a sabbatical, as many insiders believe is distinctly possible.

What do you think McLaren Honda will achieve in 2016? They finished 9th with 27 points this year, so what will make for a reasonable improvement? Leave your comments in the section below