McLaren hoping to bounce back after Suzuka

Suffering a poor weekend at their home race in Japan, McLaren-Honda boss Eric Boullier is hoping to have a much more fruitful weekend in Austin.

At last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, World Champion duo Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button finished 16th and 18th respectively.

However, the Frenchman insisted that the COTA track is very different from Suzuka and that they should improve this weekend.

He also added that race preparation will be vital ahead of the 18th race of 2016.

“It’s no secret that we didn’t achieve the results we were looking for at Suzuka, and since returning from Japan we’ve been working hard to find the appropriate solutions to avoid a continuation of this in Austin,” he explained.

“The Circuit of The Americas is a very different challenge in its configuration, so we hope we’ll be able to see improved performance there. However, we mustn’t be complacent, and instead keep fighting hard as we have been all year to get the best out of our package and its strengths as we head into the final back-to-back races of the season.

“Achieving a delicate compromise to suit the varying demands of this track – fast corners, slow corners, and a long straight – will be the key to maximising our performance, and we’ll be working hard to find the right balance and set-up as soon as we hit the track on Friday.

“The first few sessions are always unpredictable as we dial in the car to the ever-changing temperatures at different times of the day, and the autumn weather often gives us the opportunity to throw any dry-weather run plan out of the window!”