Following the nightmare that was 2015, the second year of McLaren's partnership with Honda marked a certain amount of progress, even though it fell short of where the iconic British team wanted to be.
Nonetheless, on the back of the progress made in 2016, the Woking outfit was hoping for a further step forward this year, unfortunately it was not to be.
Speaking days after the pair decided to go their separate ways, Eric Boullier has revealed that it was clear McLaren was in for another tough season as early as pre-season testing in Barcelona.
"The crucial moment was after the Barcelona test," he tells the official F1 website, "when we tried to work and help Honda to improve the situation in a very short time, including having discussions with the other engine manufacturers.
"Without going into details, it became obvious that they again would miss the target that we had agreed for the season," he admits. "Then by the summer we knew that we had to take a decision, to stay or not to stay."
Asked if there was a particular point of not return, he replies: "I can't say a date, but there had been a couple of targets missed by summer."
Divorces are never easy, particularly when one recalls the previous success these two giants enjoyed together.
"The whole story for them, as it was for us, was to recreate the legacy of the past," says the Frenchman. "On paper everything looked right. Just the way it's been done was not right, obviously.
"Luckily we managed to make it an amicable settlement," he continues, "and they understood that all the investment that they have made, they should get a reward from that at some stage. We can't wait, but they can get the reward with somebody else. I am so glad that they have decided to stay in Formula 1 and commit to another team. Personally I feel a bit sad that it didn't work, but these have been very intense three years."
And talking of investment and money...
"When you look at the last three years it's been a proper disaster for us in terms of credibility and getting new sponsors," he admits. "And then you have to take the long-term view: in the next five years I am absolutely sure that we will go back to where McLaren belongs. And with this bouncing back we get our credibility back and it will rebuild our sponsor portfolio.
"It might take two to three years. We are ninth in the championship, with a top engine I think we would be fourth right now and just on the FOM money we could cover the engine side, so it will not be a big risk on the monetary side.
"Thanks to the shareholders who have been brave enough to take a sporting choice and not hurt McLaren. They could have said, 'Let's wait until Honda wakes up'."
Nonetheless, McLaren has gone from 'works' team to customer, with Renault supplying not only Red Bull - for the time being - but its own team.
"We are 'privileged customers' with Renault," he insists. "We have the same engine and access to information as Enstone or Red Bull Racing, so this is a real partnership with Renault.
"We also have the possibility to work with them, to put ideas in the box for the future that might be taken into consideration. That will allow us to influence in the future.
"But yes, a full works team is different from our situation in 2018. But it is like in school: you look at the plusses and the minuses, and looking at all the plusses and minuses we made our decision, which we believe will be the best one for McLaren for at least the next three years.
"Legally and contractually we are equal," he adds. "But the heart is big sometimes, and there are favours given. But, legally and contractually all will be treated the same."
And then there's a certain Mr Alonso...
"He is only interested – and he's been saying this for months – in a competitive car," says Boullier. "That is for him. For us, McLaren, we are happy that the shareholders have made a sporting choice and not a business choice and changed the engine.
"McLaren's DNA is to be competitive, the team has always been in the top three and we belong there again. Today we know that we have a decent chassis, which would allow us to be in the top three again with an equal level engine, so for us as a business it is important to be competitive, no matter what role Fernando plays. We had to make this decision for us. But if you want to be competitive you not only need an engine, you also need a driver. That is when Fernando comes into the picture. We did what we did for McLaren first, but the package includes also the driver.
"Fernando wants to stay," he adds. "You can see it in his body language and the way he speaks. There are marketing details that have to be sorted out and that Zak is working on."
Asked the schedule for the coming months, he admits: "We are flat out working on the 2018 car. There are a lot of changes in terms of layout of the engine, so we have to redesign some of the parts we already had in our mind. We are a little behind in terms of decision – I would have loved this decision to have been made a couple of weeks ago... then we need to close Fernando."
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