McLaren is preparing for a tough 2016 Formula 1 season opener in Australia, after the team failed to fully complete its preparations for the opening race of the year.
The Woking-based squad is set to introduce several new updates to its MP4-31 machine during the opening practice session of the weekend, which it hopes to implement into its setup.
“We are planning to bring some updates to this race, so we’ll be working on configuring those into our set-up right from FP1,” said 2009 world champion Jenson Button, a three-time winner at Albert Park.
After an disastrous start to its renewed Honda partnership last season, McLaren will be hoping to bounce back in 2016.
Despite a much-improved testing programme over the winter, McLaren racing director Eric Boullier still expects the Australian Grand Prix weekend to be a tough affair.
“We didn’t manage to complete our final configuration and set-up work for the first race, so we go to Melbourne with a number of unknowns,” said Boullier.
“It won’t be an easy start to the weekend in that sense, since we’ll need to concentrate on setting the car up for each session and readying the final specification of our package as soon as we get to Albert Park.
“Since the final pre-season test, there’s been a huge effort back in Woking to bring new parts to Australia and it’ll be good to finally get to the track on Friday and see how we fare.”
