Static winter rules mean McLaren-Honda have everything to gain from year-long upgrades; Team say 50% of 2014 updates didn't work
Wednesday 29 April 2015 15:12, UK
McLaren insist there will be no let-up in their development right through the season as they aim to make big strides up the grid as 2015 progresses.
After the fanfare that accompanied their reunion with Honda, McLaren have made their worst-ever start to an F1 season and returned to Europe after the opening four flyaway rounds with no points to their name in the Constructors’ Championship.
But having started the campaign in the ignominious confines of the back row of the grid in Melbourne in March, McLaren believe they have made “progressive improvement” since then after just missing out on a point two weeks ago in Bahrain.
Next week’s Spanish GP will see the Woking team introduce their first major development packages of the season and Fernando Alonso has predicted they are ready to make "huge progress".
Speaking in a joint Q&A on McLaren’s website which also featured team boss Eric Boullier, engineering chiefs Matt Morris and Peter Prodromou made clear that upgrades to the Honda-powered MP4-30 would continue to appear all the way up to the Abu Dhabi GP in late November.
“The 2016 regulations aren’t significantly changing – and we’re not going through the process of introducing a new engine, as we’ve done for the last two years, so we’ll keep developing,” director of engineering Morris said.
“A lot of what we learn at the track this year will naturally evolve into next year’s car.”
Chief engineer Prodromou, who joined from rivals Red Bull last season, added: “Next year’s car will be an evolution of this year’s, so we need to keep developing it right until the final race.”
McLaren have traditionally been famed for their in-season development rate – in 2009 and 2011, for instance, they recovered from wretched pre-seasons to end the campaign with multiple race victories – although failed to break out of the midfield in either of the last two seasons and finished fifth in the standings.
Over the past 12 months the Woking team have undergone a major restructure following the return of Ron Dennis to the helm of the F1 operation and Boullier, who joined as racing director last January, says the creation of more inclusive working practices has improved their development strike rate.
“The main outcome of that new approach is that people now have a sense of ownership in the car. And they’re more motivated and interested as a result,” the Frenchman said.
“To give you an example, I guess about 50 per cent of the upgrades we brought to the track last year didn’t completely work; this year, we’ve brought that down to about five or 10 per cent.”
And Morris added: “And we’re much more structured in the way we bring new parts to the track. The rate of progress is much faster, so we don’t need to build as many new components, because we know they’ll be updated in just a few races’ time. That speeds up the whole process.”
Although more accustomed to podium finishes and race wins than a succession of non-points finishes, McLaren’s all-champion driver line-up of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have also been praised for their input into the team’s efforts to move up the grid.
“The driver line-up has made a big difference. Jenson’s attitude and feedback have always been phenomenal, but this year he’s raised his game again,” Boullier said.
“Our drivers are really committed: they’re world champions, they want to win again, they believe in the project, and they’re pushing hard. They don’t leave anything on the table in terms of performance, which is fantastic.”
Watch every twist and turn of the Spanish GP weekend live only on Sky Sports F1. The race begins at 1pm on Sunday May 10, with our build-up underway from 11.30am. No Sky Sports? No problem! Get a NOW TV pass from only £6.99.
