Carlos Sainz believes McLaren can compete in Formula 1's midfield providing future upgrades are positive.
The British outfit seems to have made a decent start to 2019 with Lando Norris making Q3 in Australia, however, Sainz had a difficult first race with a Q1 exit and early retirement after an MGU-K failure.
Before that though, the former Renault driver had made some progress through the field, so he feels his teammate's results are a more accurate representation of their potential.
“It shows the car was able to get points at that track at least, so let’s see how it adapts to other tracks like Bahrain or China,” said Sainz.
“But the initial feeling was really good – attacking the Force India in front, being able to clear four cars in front, and I was riding in the mix.”
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Looking forward though, he knows that to continue battling for top 10 positions, McLaren must start delivering improvements.
“It will all depend on upgrades," he told Autosport. “If our upgrades work, then I’m convinced this team is going to move forward.
“So we need those upgrades early and to start developing the car to not fall into the same trap as last season."
Indeed, McLaren did score points in the first five races of 2018 via Fernando Alonso but by the summer break, a wrong direction in design had left them trailing towards the back.
“We know the direction to follow, we know the car at the moment has the pace to be in the mix: some races in Q3, some races not," Sainz continued.
“But we have a good development programme and if we make it happen, we will succeed in that battle.”
