McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl admits very few would have predicted the progress they had made in 2019.
The British outfit has finished 'best of the rest' in four races so far this season, opening up a 20-point gap over Renault in fourth in the Constructors' standings.
While a strong start to the year is not uncommon for McLaren, what is encouraging is the upgrades are working unlike recent years, and their new boss sees that as proof of a wider improvement.
“No one expected the team, finishing last season as the ninth fastest car, to make such a step,” Seidl told F1i.com. “It simply shows that a lot of the changes triggered last year are paying off.
“The team did a good job bringing this car to the track.
“Also the drivers from last year we should pay a lot of credit to, Fernando [Alonso] and Stoffel [Vandoorne], they pointed out the weaknesses and where to develop the car. And now the target is to keep going with the development.”
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The past two weekends have seen McLaren comfortably have the fourth best car on the grid, even beating Pierre Gasly's Red Bull with at least one car.
“I’m very happy for the team because it’s good to confirm that Paul Ricard was not just a one-off," the German added on the Austria result.
For Lando Norris, the opening lap in Spielberg saw the 19-year-old battling with Lewis Hamilton in the opening corners before eventually claiming sixth.
And in what has been an impressive rookie season up against the established Carlos Sainz, he is confident he will only improve.
“There’s more, more time, more results to come in me," the Briton said.
“Maybe I’ve dropped back further than I’ve wanted to [in some races] but I think I’ve taken the safer option for a good reason. As you saw [in Austria] if I want to push and I need to I can go forward.”
