McLaren admit targets set too low

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says the team need to re-evaluate their season after the MCL33 met targets set before the season started. Having swapped out the Honda power unit for a Renault one, the team have improved after a torrid time with the Japanese brand.

Currently sat in fourth place in the constructor standings, McLaren's improvements over the winter has been welcome news to fans around the world, not least Boullier himself.

“The car has matched all the targets so maybe that means maybe the targets were not the right ones,” he said. “We need to revise, in terms of ambitions, what we need to achieve.

“Obviously we have the same engine as Renault and Red Bull and we are behind so there is no hiding that fact, we need to understand why we are slow in qualifying, why we are better in the race and why we are behind the other Renault teams, full stop.

“There was obviously some questions asked in Bahrain, there is still an ongoing process because we have to address it and we will address it and we are about to address it.”

“The car is still very balanced,” he added. “If you listen to the drivers, they are happy with the balance of the car. Whatever you try and set up the car reacts accordingly so a bit more understeer, less understeer, more oversteer, one tenth better here, one-tenth slower here so I think we have a good understanding of the car.

“I think the car has no nastiness, if you want, in terms of the design. We just need to make the car faster around the corner and in the straight line.”