"Long straights will likely expose the weaknesses in our package," says team boss
Monday 3 April 2017 14:03, UK
Eric Boullier admits McLaren-Honda's weaknesses will be exposed at the Chinese GP this weekend.
The Woking-based team have suffered a woeful start to 2017 having been beset by reliability problems during winter testing while Stoffel Vandoorne was the last of the cars to finish at the season-opening Australian GP.
Fernando Alonso had exceeded expectations at Albert Park by running in the points for much of the race before being forced to retire late on with a suspension issue.
However, the Shanghai International Circuit's long back and pit straights are likely to leave McLaren as sitting ducks, with Alonso revealing in testing that he felt they were 30 kmph slower than their rivals.
And team boss Boullier concedes the lack of power in the Honda engine will be found out in China.
"Shanghai is known to be an unpredictable weekend for a number of reasons: it's tough on cars, tyres and power units and the weather is often precarious, but I can predict that we won't be as fortuitous with our pace, compared to our rivals, as we were in Australia," Boullier said.
"The characteristics of the Shanghai International Circuit are very different from Melbourne, and its long, fast straights will likely expose the weaknesses in our package more than Albert Park did.
"However, we will of course attack the race with our usual fighting spirit, and the most important thing will be to ensure reliability with both cars before focusing on performance."
Honda F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa is also expecting a tough weekend.
"We expect the Chinese Grand Prix to be even more challenging," he said. "The race is always a bit of an unknown due to the changeable weather conditions, which affects the set-up and balance of the car.
"The track itself also places a lot of stress on the power unit with its slow- and medium-speed corners, and two very long straights. The key will be preparation and set-up."
While McLaren avoided the major reliability issues that dogged them in winter testing, their speed remained poor in Australia with Vandoorne slowest through the speed traps in qualifying and Alonso third last.
The Spaniard said after the race that he expected them to be bringing up the rear of the field at future races despite his impressive showing at Albert Park.
Alonso: McLaren should be last
"We are last in terms of performance," Alonso said.
"In normal conditions on a normal circuit we should be last and second last."
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