Brown: We’d be happy to work with Honda

This comes as a surprise in the wake of the bad blood spilt after their failed partnership in Formula 1 and more recently their star driver Fernando Alonso's affiliation with Toyota through his WEC programme.

During their recent frustrating years together senior figures within the Woking outfit, including Alonso, were highly critical of the Japanese manufacturer, blaming them for all the team's shortcomings in Formula 1.

Hence McLaren management terminated the agreement, and all the perks that come with being a works outfit, to become Renault customers and the rest is history.

Now the problem is that McLaren are looking to partner with Andretti Autosport who are Honda powered, but despite the 'history' Brown told Racer that a deal is imminent, “We’re close to a decision. We’d be happy to work with Honda, yes.”

Honda and Chevrolet are the engine suppliers currently involved with Indycar, which Brown acknowledged when McLaren started flirting with the series, "There are two excellent manufacturers, both of whom do an excellent job, in IndyCar."

"We'd love to race with Honda again. They make great engines, they win a lot of races in IndyCar, so we wouldn't hesitate to race with Honda if that was ultimately the direction we were headed. We've spoken with both manufacturers in our process of exploring what we might want to do."

"We've been very flattered and moved by the enthusiasm we've seen and read about, from the IndyCar series and its fans to having McLaren back in the series, and maybe Fernando too."

Alonso who departs F1 at the end of the season has his Toyota Gazoo Racing commitments in WEC until the middle of next year, but remains undecided with regards to where else he will race in 2019. Word is the Spaniard is considering several options, including another Indy 500 foray if not a full season of Indycar.

Brown also revealed that Stoffel Vandoorne - axed and replaced by Lando Norris in the F1 team - could be part of the McLaren Indycar project if indeed it happens.

"I think he’s an extremely fast driver, very consistent. I think he’d make a great sports car driver and a great IndyCar driver. I think he’d make a good Formula 1 driver, we just had a difficult two years,” explained Brown.

“Obviously, it’s difficult when you don’t renew someone, but he’s a professional. We’re fans of his. McLaren would definitely race with Stoffel in other racing series and I think it would be great to see his story continue with McLaren.”

Racer reports that "Brown and McLaren are said to be a few weeks away from making a final decision on whether an IndyCar program will go forward in 2019."