Just read the (premium) interview with Yamamoto and it's clear that they won't quit McLaren or F1. They are talking with other teams about supplying engines in 2018, but 2019 is more likely.
Honda's level of investment - both in terms of finances and resource - backs that claim.
"We can't give you actual numbers, but we have three times as many people now in Sakura compared to the start of the project," adds Yamamoto. "Milton Keynes is also future-proofed. We moved into new facilities, which can house a second team, last year.
"As part of our long-term recruitment, we're continuing to invest in Sakura, hiring new people and drafting in people from other departments, including from mass production.
"We know as a company how much we've invested into this era of Formula 1. We can see our investment in our members of staff and facilities we have grown and developed as well.
"We are having huge investment in our facilities and in people as well. Once it comes altogether, it's going to work. That's our belief."
But Kaltenborn's departure in June threw a spanner in the works. It has since emerged Kaltenborn's view of the arrangement, and the elements of the deal she had agreed to in principle, differed from the new Sauber management's view.
With some of those elements, such as a path for working with Japanese drivers, still requiring rubberstamping, the deal was put in doubt. When the two sides met, it became clear they no longer saw eye-to-eye, so it was agreed that the deal should be cancelled.
"We were working in the same direction for next year," says Yamamoto. "However, some of the details had not been decided, such as running a Japanese driver or other activities, for example they have some facilities, which we could use for other categories. When the deal was agreed with Monisha, the idea of collaboration for other categories was OK, but they have changed their attitude [following Kaltenborn's departure]."
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