Jenson Button says he is enjoying being able to "fight" again with other drivers in 2016 now that McLaren has become more competitive in Formula One's pecking order.
After struggling in 2015 following a switch back to Honda power, McLaren has already recorded 15 points more in 2016 than it did throughout the whole of last season. As a result, the British team sits seventh in the constructors' standings and is just three points shy of sixth-placed Toro Rosso.
"The closer you get to the front the better it is and at least we can fight now," Button said. "Before we would qualify OK and then we'd just say goodbye to everyone because of our deployment.
"This year we have good deployment, the problem is as soon as we're in a battle in a race we struggle to overtake because we don't have certain things we need to help us overtake."
When asked whether it is more difficult going through an uncompetitive period having enjoyed previous success in his career, the 2009 world champion replied: "It is tough and a lot of drivers would have jumped to other teams, as we've seen with many drivers jumping teams.
"Sometimes it works out for you and you jump into a car that is winning and [winning] consistently. There was a bit of a slump, especially 2013 was pretty tough after being so competitive the previous three years, and we expected that to be a great year for us."
Button is convinced the significant progress McLaren has made in the past year is a sign that the Woking-based outfit is heading in the right direction after failing to win a grand prix -- and having not finished higher than fifth in the constructors' standings -- since 2012.
"It's definitely [going] in the right direction, but I think if you compare us to Red Bull we're still a long way behind in terms of aero. I think they have a very strong car aerodynamically, I think we all know that their power unit is not as strong as Mercedes so it's a good team to judge ourselves against.
"There's good progress but you're never happy until you're fighting at the front and we're definitely not. Still got a long way to go, but I'm positive that the people in the team will make good steps for next year."