For the Spanish Grand Prix, the McLaren team are expecting a massive upgrade. But, veteran driver Fernando Alonso has downplayed the possibility of McLaren making big leaps up the order.

After 3 years of struggling with former engine supplier Honda, McLaren switched to Renault for this season. Their aim is to return to the front of the grid, a place thy used to occupy in their McLaren Mercedes days. So far, they have hauled in a solid 36 points in four races. But, there is still room for improvement if they want to duke it out with the top teams. One of their main weaknesses is qualifying, where the MCL33 has failed to break the top ten this year.

McLaren has been bringing updates at each round, but have said that the Spanish Grand Prix will be a breakthrough for them. Fernando Alonso hopes that the upgrade will improve performance but he is wary of rival teams. He believe that they too, will make big gains at the first European round of the year.

“Obviously in Barcelona there is a new aero package coming but I think 95 percent of the paddock is bringing a new aero package to Barcelona so maybe the gap will remain as it is or we will recover it a little bit or just lose a little bit of ground, who knows,” he said. “I think it is up to us to make the package work and deliver to expectations and hopefully some others do not deliver. That is our hope.”

McLaren Racing director Eric Boullier was also hesitant to predict their pace. However, he said that it would herald the start of a new design direction for the car.

He said, “I just want to add that we are bringing new parts to every weekend. There is a new direction starting from Barcelona but you can’t expect, like Fernando said, to jump everybody.

“Obviously everyone is bringing parts and packages, especially at the opening races. Anyway, Monaco there will be another upgrade and Canada there will be another upgrade and so on so — it is at every race.”