• McLaren news

Podiums 'the minimum' for McLaren

Martin Whitmarsh is not willing to switch his full attention to 2014 yet © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News:
• McLaren podiums still unlikely - Michael
  

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says scoring podiums this season is "the minimum" he expects from the team.

Having finished last season with a race-winning car, McLaren has struggled so far this year and can only boast a best finish of fifth place from the opening 11 races. Although the majority of resources are now focused on 2014, Whitmarsh isn't willing to completely write-off this season and says the team has to score some podiums before the year is out.

"I hope we can [beat Force India]," Whitmarsh told the official Formula One website. "But I'd also like to get a few podiums before the end of the season. That is the minimum."

Whitmarsh also said there were some resources that had remained focused on 2013 but explained why McLaren's development rate had not been as impressive as in recent years.

"The weakness of McLaren - and this is probably my fault - is that we have not switched (enough) resources to the next year. We fought and battled on for this season, as we are racers - that is our weakness. In the past often we've been a bit late - we've come out slow and then put a foot on the gas.

"Often we've been in a situation where we've made a mistake, then we rectified that mistake and jumped forward. But this year the problem that we have with this car is that we are behind in development. You then push hard to accelerate development, you lose correlation from the wind tunnel to the track, you lose your way and it becomes difficult to make the progress that you want."

Download ESPN's new UK multisport app, a fresh and powerful new way to follow your favourite UK sports news, scores and video.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.