Fernando Alonso is confident McLaren and Honda will enjoy a much more competitive end to the 2015 season, with the gap to the front greatly reduced.
McLaren have made some big strides forward in their quest for performance, but are heavily reliant on engine partner Honda delivering reliability, more power and a consistent energy recovery system.
However the Spaniard is confident improvements are being made in all areas and a leap forward won’t be too far away, starting with the next event in Hungary.
“I think the team is looking forward to this race: the track will offer us a reasonable opportunity to showcase our steady progress, and I’d like to think that, if everything runs smoothly, we could have a less difficult weekend,” he explained.
Alonso believes the team will manage to close the significant gap to the front substantially over the next few races, ending the season on a high.
“I think the second part of the year will show a completely different McLaren, much more competitive,” he told the official Formula 1 website. “The steps that are coming are quite big.
“This is not too difficult when you are at the back of the grid and two seconds off the pace – every step then is half a second or eight-tenths. When you are fighting for a podium you [only] gain 0.1s every two weeks. I think we will get much closer to the top guys in the second part of the championship.”
