Progress for struggling McLaren after Honda turn up their engines

Despite remaining almost three seconds off the pace, McLaren are optimistic they are closing in on the midfield pack after a small but significant improvement in Friday practice at Sepang.

While the cause of Fernando Alonso’s crash in testing remains an ongoing mystery, there is no dispute about the extent of McLaren’s current on-track struggles following their reunion with Honda.

Slowest of all in Australia, only the two Manor cars and, following an engine failure, the Lotus of Romain Grosjean finished behind Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button in Friday practice for the Malaysia GP.

But it’s a measure of McLaren’s painstaking progress that Alonso completed almost as many laps on his comeback as he had on any day during winter testing prior to his crash at Barcelona and the two Force Indias already appear to be within McLaren’s range this weekend after Honda turned up their V6 engines.

“It felt great, I enjoyed it so much,” enthused Alonso after edging out Button in both practice sessions. “Four weeks without driving, it doesn’t matter how much gym you do or simulation you do, it’s not the same as the car. I pushed to feel the car, it feels good. We had a few issues with braking, front locking and rear locking, but it was really the second day of testing. I had one good day of testing in Barcelona with 63 laps and today with 45 with zero problems. It’s very important."

Button finished 11th and last in the season-opening Australian GP and has called for patience as McLaren re-adapt to life with Honda. But the Englishman is now hopeful that they can catch the back of the midfield pack this weekend.

“We seem a little bit more competitive than in the last race compared to the other cars,” said Button. “I might have been wrong yesterday when I said we wouldn’t race other cars. There might be that possibility and that would be a massive step forward.”