Next year’s McLaren is already performing better than the MP4-30 used during 2015, according to McLaren racing director Eric Boullier.
Whilst their new car has yet to even turn a wheel on-track and is just under two months from doing so, it is already “developing more performance” in the wind tunnel according to the Frenchman.
“In terms of the car, most of it will be changed, but it doesn’t mean we change the philosophy of the car,” Boullier told AS.
“And as we are currently talking now our car for next year is already developing more performance than this year’s car.”
That will be welcome news for Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, both of which endured a torrid time behind the wheel, scoring just 27 points between them.
However much of that was down to the engine, rather than the chassis, which both praised in the slow corners – a good sign that it was working well.
Therefore engine improvements will likely bring the biggest laptime gain, and Honda’s motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai is confident of that.
“As Eric says, our concept or our philosophy is carried over, but a completely new engine, right now, is under development,” he said.
“We look forward to the development over the winter, where we will focus on reliability and to improve the power unit. We know the weaknesses of our engine, they will be fixed for Melbourne.”
Button however pointed out that it might not be enough to get them to the front.
“There is a lot of work needed if we want to be fighting at the front, every area of this car – aerodynamics, the mechanicals of the car – there are so many areas that we think we need to improve.”
