McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says his team is finding performance at a faster rate than the biggest teams in Formula One after slowly working its way up the grid this year.
Although McLaren is only seventh in the constructors' championship this season, it has significantly improved on last year and is now a regular contender for Q3 in qualifying. Neither driver has qualified within a second of pole position this year but, as a trend, the gap to the pole as a percentage has narrowed as the season has progressed, especially at non-power dependent tracks (see sidebar). McLaren's race pace has also improved, with points finishes at three of the last four races.
"We are pleased, if I may say this, to catch up on the big teams, to out-develop the big teams," Boullier said in a video on the McLaren website. "That means the momentum behind it is working and that means what you are doing is delivering.
"We just want to do the best job we can to continue to do this until the end of the season while we are developing for 2017 as well."
Boullier said McLaren can also boast a high hit rate in how well new parts perform in simulation and how they perform on track.
"Another great performance of the team is having, now, a nearly 95 percent correlation level between what we can simulate, produce, manufacturer and deliver to the track and race, which is amazing."