Honda F1 boss to leave role at end of month

Arai had been due to retire at the end of the 2016 season and will step away from his job of overseeing the Japanese firm's return to F1 with McLaren on March 1.

Honda's Formula 1 boss Yasuhisa Arai.

Honda has confirmed Yasuhisa Arai will leave his role as head of the company's Formula One project at the end of the month.

Arai had been due to retire at the end of the 2016 season and will step away from his job of overseeing the Japanese firm's return to F1 with McLaren on March 1.

Yusuke Hasegawa will take over as head of the project while Yoshiyuki Matsumoto has been appointed to the position of supervising director of the F1 programme.

The moves, which are part of the company's annual organisational changes, come following Honda's dreadful first season back in F1.

McLaren finished the 2015 campaign second bottom of the constructors' standings following a season in which the team endured severe problems with the power unit provided by Honda.

Fernando Alonso used 12 engines during the year, although Jenson Button said Honda had taken a "big step forward" following the first day of pre-season testing on Monday.