McLaren ‘handicapped’ by testing limits

At a time when McLaren are not competitive, Ron Dennis says F1's limited in-season testing is a "huge handicap" and "frustration" for all at Woking.

Although McLaren-Honda recorded their best result of this season last time out in Hungary, the team's trials are by no means over.

A lack of pace meant that even though both cars were inside the top ten, fifth-placed Fernando Alonso crossed the line 50 seconds behind the race winner.

Added to that, reliability remains a concern with an electrical issue causing his car to shut down during qualifying.

Shortly after that incident the Spaniard admitted that there is "the temptation for other categories" as he is unhappy with F1's tyres, calendar and "no testing."

The latter is a frustration that McLaren CEO Dennis understands.

"I think Fernando shares my frustration, which is not being able to test when you are not competitive," Dennis said. "It is such a huge handicap.

"It is much more difficult to improve both the performance of the engine and the performance of the car.

"It actually doesn't save money as we have to bring developments to the cars in quantities without proving it out.

"We don't always get it right, and when we don't get it right, we waste money. So it is a false economy.

"It is more about hampering the performance of the larger teams than it is about really saving money: it doesn't save anybody money but the smaller teams.

"That isn't what F1 is about. F1 is about competition, not about handicapping. And perversely the biggest handicap in F1 is no testing."