McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier says the team has been right to “take risks” for 2018, despite completing pre-season testing with the fewest mileage of any Formula 1 team.
McLaren endured setbacks during the opening test, and was beset by further issues across the course of the second four-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Time was lost on Tuesday due to an electrical shutdown and a hydraulic issue, while an oil leak on Wednesday necessitated an engine change.
McLaren was boosted by smoother running on Thursday but a turbo problem on Friday cost another four hours, as McLaren finished the eight days with 599 laps, compared to Mercedes’ 1040.
Boullier, though, asserted that McLaren has taken the correct approach, as it bids to re-emerge as a competitive force with Renault, following its difficult Honda partnership.
“The last three years were difficult,” he said. “We are now trying to get McLaren back where it should be. Like anything, you don't do it in one day.
“There are maybe a few glitches. We have not lost our capability of designing fast cars, and I hope you will see it on-track soon.
“We have to be ambitious. That's also why to be ambitious we have to take risks. All this, we need to put everything back together and are working together.”
Boullier is nonetheless wary that McLaren faces a “higher risk of failure” early on, amid its lack of running, but says the operation should not be judged by its pre-season display.
“[I am] 100 per cent sure we will be not [at the required reliability level] because obviously we have not run as much as we wanted, so there will be a higher risk of failure somewhere,” he said.
“Nevertheless, we had only minor issues which were all different. I think a good rebuild of the car for Australia will help us to fix a few issues.
“Let's wait and see. Wait and see. If you judge based on a few issues on three days, it's better to wait a few races.”
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