McLaren's Fernando Alonso believes his 13th place in qualifying ahead of the British Grand Prix was the limit of what he could achieve under the circumstances the team are under.
After a tough few weeks with the performances of the team continued to fall below expectations with just four points scored in the past three races as well as the departure of former race director Eric Boullier, questions surrounding the team's performances remained in doubt, but the double-world champion believes the team is performing at their limit.
I think this was the limit," said Alonso. "I have no doubts today was my best qualifying session of all year and the best weekend of the season too, because the entire Saturday went really well.
"It’s positive if you consider what our possibilities are, so I’m happy and let’s see if tomorrow we can score some points."
The Spaniard was forthright in admitting the team's current problems around the high-speed layout of the Silverstone circuit but believes they can still move forward with their development and compete further into the midfield with Haas and Sauber.
"Our grid position is more or less the same as ever, but it’s a very long track and with the aerodynamic deficiencies we have, we knew what kind of problems we could face here, but we completed a tough qualifying in a relatively good position," he added.
"We’ll start from the clean side of the track with a good chance to score points, as I said. Overall I’m happy, we know our limitations, it was the same in Austria as the cars haven’t changed.
"So let’s see if we can move forward for Hockenheim, in Hungary too and then, in the second part of the season we know we’ll need to improve a few tenths of a second to be up there with Haas and even Sauber, as now they are at the same level as Haas – so we have three Ferrari on track…"
McLaren currently sits sixth in the Constructors' Championship on 44 points, losing fifth to Haas at the previous round in Austria.