McLaren may not be competitive until the British GP, Martin Brundle has warned.

McLaren may not be competitive until the British GP, Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle has warned.

Following their return to Honda power, McLaren have endured a dire winter, with their new car bottom of the fastest lap timesheets across the two Barcelona tests and completing just 380 laps over the whole winter.

The F1 Show

To compound the team’s desperate start to the year, Fernando Alonso, hired as Jenson Button’s teammate for 2015, has been ruled out of the season-opening Australian GP after his puzzling crash at the Circuit de Catalunya a week ago.

Despite the team’s insistence that Alonso was unhurt during the accident, it was confirmed on Tuesday he will be replaced in Melbourne by Kevin Magnussen, who was relegated to the role of test and reserve driver after the Spaniard returned at the end of last season.

“That’s not a big problem for McLaren, their big problem is getting the car fast and reliable,” Brundle told Sky Sports News HQ. “Magnussen was their driver for the whole of last season, so it shouldn’t affect their performance - he will seize the opportunity and was on the podium at Melbourne last year.”

Although the MP4-30 has impressed whenever it has been on track, a myriad of technical problems stemming from the car’s Honda power unit meant that the car only completed 100 laps once during the 12 days of winter testing.

Team boss Eric Boullier has conceded that McLaren’s reunion with Honda may only come good when the European leg of the 2015 season starts in May – but even that prognosis may be optimistic.

“If McLaren and Honda get their act together before the British GP they will be pleased about that, frankly,” warned Brundle. “I get the impression that the McLaren chassis is actually quite good, although they haven’t really been able to stretch its legs yet, and you can never underestimate Honda in any form of motorsport. Sooner or later, it will come together and with drivers like Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso – or Kevin Magnussen – they have the line-up they need.

“But right now, they are playing catch-up because Ferrari have moved forward, Red Bull look strong and Williams look very strong indeed. But McLaren are likely to be limping in the first races.”

At the other end of the spectrum – and very possibly, the grid itself – Mercedes cruised through winter testing, setting the quickest time at Barcelona despite not using the fastest available tyres. Paddock observers believe that the W06 is likely to start the new season with a mammoth advantage in the region of a second per lap.

“There is a long way to go, and 20 races is an awful long time in motorsport, but it certainly seems that Mercedes will have the performance advantage they had last year, if not more because we think they’ve been sandbagging fairly heavily in testing,” said Brundle.

“The good news is that behind them Williams, Ferrari and Red Bull look very closely matched, but at the moment it does appear it will be Hamilton v Rosberg once more for the title.”