This is the year all the big talk stops for McLaren, and we finally find out how much those troublesome Honda engines have been holding the team back for the past three years.
It's no secret that there weren't enough Japanese horses pushing Woking's recent creations along, and they weren't capable of lasting the distance on a regular basis. But the longer the malaise went on, the more McLaren's chassis seemed to take on the life of an injured footballer: the longer you are out of the spotlight, the better you become.
In taking Renault power for 2018, McLaren has the ultimate chassis benchmark for a straight comparison: Red Bull. No excuses, you'd think. But who is the pressure really on?