McLaren's executive director Zak Brown is confident his team has made good progress with its 2017 car.
Brown joined McLaren at the end of last year to work on the commercial side of the company, but has also been keeping a close eye on the team's technical development over the winter. The new regulations for 2017 make it hard for teams to judge their position relative to their competitors, but by McLaren's own internal targets, Brown says the new car is looking good.
"I'm in constant touch with both Jonathan [Neale] and Eric [Boullier], and our senior engineers too, and I think our 2017 chassis will be a decent one," he told F1's official website. "I'm not going to make any precise predictions -- I'm not that dumb -- but all the indications are that, relative to the targets we thought were realistically attainable under the new regs, our guys have done a very good job.
"Also, let's not forget, Honda is a fantastic power-unit partner. No company in the world manufactures more engines than Honda does -- absolutely none -- and the Honda engineers have a tonne of knowledge about turbocharging."
The change in aerodynamic regulations for the 2017 season could present an opportunity for McLaren to move up the grid, but Brown would not be drawn on a precise prediction.
"We all know that 2015 and 2016 were learning years, and we won't be at the front of the grid in 2017 either," he added. "But we're working incredibly hard, together, as one team, and the progress is clear to see. We finished a lowly ninth in the 2015 constructors' world championship, and we improved that to sixth in 2016. We know we'll win together in the end -- we don't know when so don't ask me to make that prediction -- but as I say we're making progress and that's the important thing."