McLaren is expecting this week's Chinese Grand Prix to expose the weaknesses of its 2017 car much more than the opening round of the season in Australia.
After two nightmare weeks of pre-season testing, the team exceeded its low expectations at Melbourne, with Fernando Alonso starting 12th on the grid and running in the points before a late suspension issue forced him to retire. However, racing director Eric Boullier admits the team will struggle more on Shanghai's long straights where he expects the deficiencies of Honda's power unit will be laid bare.
"Shanghai is known to be an unpredictable weekend for a number of reasons: it's tough on cars, tyres and power units and the weather is often precarious, but I can predict that we won't be as fortuitous with our pace, compared to our rivals, as we were in Australia," he said.