Fernando Alonso says McLaren cannot afford to abandon 2016 at this stage of the season if it wants to be a true title contender next year.
The 2017 regulations are set to create a big overhaul of the current cars, making them wider and more aggressive-looking. That has given some teams a headache about how to manage the 2016 and 2017 projects concurrently and when to shift focus solely to the latter.
McLaren hopes the aerodynamic shake-up next year will help it move closer to the front but Alonso thinks there is plenty to be gained from the current campaign.
When asked which season McLaren was focused on, he replied: "I think a little bit of both. We want to be fighting for the world championship, but we are not in that position this year. We are making progress and we are moving in the right direction to achieve that goal in future but there's still a long way to go, so certainly we need to think about next year's car and next year's project and put some focus on that and try to be more competitive next year.
"But at the same time we cannot forget 2016 because we are only in June, many races to come, many good possibilities to go score points, to go a little bit higher on the constructors' championship which will help the team next year. Some of the progress and updates we can bring this year can be quite helpful for next year, especially on the power unit side which does not change so much in the regulations. Still working on both projects and still very motivated to score many points this year and do a good season."
Alonso was speaking at the Thursday press conference in Baku, where Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz was seated behind him.
The pair were asked which Spaniard would be higher in the standings come the end of the current season and Alonso replied: "We will see. Obviously I will be happy if Carlos is ahead this year if I'm able to fight for the championship in the next one..."