Even though three races have past and McLaren-Honda has yet to score a single point, the team is starting to be happy with the reliability of MP4-30, with both cars finishing the race in China.
Racing Chief Eric Boullier told Autosport that he’s happy with the progress and that in China they had a “reliable package”, which means that the Honda power unit is about to be let loose on the competition.
“Now we can power up a little bit and we know the potential,” added Boullier. “There’s a lot of potential coming from this point. We have some new specs coming from Europe. In terms of chassis as well, we’ll keep bringing parts in Bahrain.”
This is great news for the team and for McLaren fans. As you know, the team had to race with the engine power turned down in order to protect them – since they’re limited to only four power units per season. The risk would have been too great had they went all out from the beginning of the season.
What’s even more exciting is that they’re expecting an even bigger upgrade to arrive in Barcelona. Boullier expects noticeable improvements, not “tenths by tenths but half a second by half a second”.
Expecting them to be in front of the midfield pack in a couple of races is beginning to sound realistic – that is if things improve at the rate at which McLaren are expecting them to.
Right now, they’re keeping up with the likes of Lotus and Force India in the corners, but without an extra bump in power (with them currently being 100 to 150 HP down on the Mercedes power units), there isn’t much else Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button can do.
PHOTOS
