Neale: A lot to come from McLaren

McLaren chief operating officer Jonathan Neale is confident the team will recover from their Montreal nightmare, saying "watch us over the next few races".

The Woking-based outfit endured a torrid Canadian Grand Prix as Jenson Button didn't take part in qualifying due to an ERS problem while Fernando Alonso failed to get out of Q1.

That wasn't the end of their woes as both drivers retired due to unrelated exhaust problems while Alonso also had an outburst during the race as he felt he was being made to "look like an amateur" by being asked to save fuel.

Neale, though, insists McLaren have taken several strides forward since their disastrous start to the season, and he expects them to improve in the coming months.

"The primary goal for this season is to keep moving forward as we have done," he told Sky Sports F1.

"We have closed a gap of around 2.5 seconds, we’ve got two seconds to go, that is a huge way, but we knew it was going to be a difficult weekend with a circuit like this. But watch us over the next few races, ask us in two or three races time, I think there is a lot to come."

McLaren renewed their engine partnership with Honda at the start of this season, but the Japanese manufacturer has come in for a lot of stick as the MP4-30 has struggled with reliability.

Despite concerns, Neale says both parties are determined to find solutions to their problems.

"We are committed to our engine partner, we are going to win or lose as a team and I am not about to do what other teams have done and start tearing apart the relationship between the chassis manufacturer and the engine manufacturer. The fact is we have a job to do," he said.