McLaren boss Eric Boullier says that the team is not letting up in its quest to make further progress over the rest of 2016, adding that anything learned will pay off next year, despite the rule changes.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button showed improved form in the races before the summer break, regularly making Q3 and recording top 10 finishes.
“The whole team has had a well-deserved break after the gruelling schedule of 12 races since the start of the season,” said Boullier. “We are now just over halfway through, and ready to fight again to achieve our end-of-season goals.
“The midfield pack is particularly close, and each team is stronger on different circuits, so there’ll be no let-up in in how hard we push or the developments we bring to the car in our bid to continue our progress through the rest of the season and into next year.
“Together, McLaren-Honda is continuing to push hard, and everything we bring to the car – be it on the chassis or power unit side – is valuable learning for next year. We’ve enjoyed a couple of weeks away from Formula 1, but our ambition is as strong as ever, and we’re definitely ready to go racing again.”
Meanwhile Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa expects the Japanese manufacturer to continue to make progress.
“Though the long and power-hungry nature of Spa won’t suit us, our target for the remainder of the season is clear: to aim for championship points and take further steps forward with each race. We hope that we can continue our positive momentum that we had before the summer shutdown and look to another strong weekend in Spa.”
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