McLaren – Boullier: Be more aggressive to catch up with Mercedes

If Mercedes seems to have left its mark on the Australian Grand Prix, leading Nico Rosberg to victory, it is nevertheless the McLaren team that has taken the lead in the Constructors’ Championship, thanks to the double podium of Kevin Magnussen (2nd) and Jenson Button (3rd), following the disqualification of Daniel Ricciardo, who initially finished second.

A situation that already largely erases the poor 2013 season during which neither Jenson Button nor Sergio Pérez managed to reach the podium. Eric Boullier, who arrived this winter as the team director of competition at the Woking team, explains that the program for the first races of the season focused on certain aspects of the MP4-29’s development that could yield significant returns.

« We focused a lot this winter on building a reliable and solid car because we believe—and Australia confirmed our strategy—that reliability is key to securing big points at the beginning of the season, » he told Autosport. The 33 points already accumulated during the opening round are therefore, in this respect, a success.

This is all the more so because the Mercedes W05 is, for the Frenchman, largely superior at the moment: « It is true that Mercedes has a certain [advantage in terms of] pace, perhaps between half a second and three-quarters of a second over the rest of the field, » he estimates.

No panic regarding the gap. McLaren will intensify its development work to try to bridge this gap: « Now, we are pushing very aggressively on performance development. Clearly, we have to catch up with Mercedes. » The agenda is clear: « Our goal is to return for Barcelona, and then to strengthen ourselves during the first races in Europe. »

Looking ahead is one thing, but Eric Boullier doesn’t forget that others, behind, have room for improvement: « Some other teams haven’t performed well so far, but clearly, once they are at full power, they will be quick.