2016 is 'time to rebuild' for McLaren

Eric Boullier says 2016 is "time to rebuild" for McLaren following its troubled season last year.

With Honda returning as power unit supplier, there were high expectations on McLaren last season but reliability and performance issues saw the team finish ninth in the constructors' championship.

• A closer look at the McLaren-Honda MP4-31

Honda focused on improving in a number of key areas over the winter - including its ERS deployment - and with McLaren's 'size zero' concept being a big departure from its previous direction, Boullier says the team can build from this point.

"I think there is a good base now," Boullier said. "It’s time to rebuild. But if you look at the other cars, like Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari, the current regulations with all the restrictions forces you to develop a car concept over a couple of years or three years, so we need time first.

"We decided to go radically different and it sort of paid off because we caught up on some big teams last year in terms of performance and we have to see now where we are. The base is good and the confidence is there now. Everybody is working hard and jointly, which is important."

And Boullier welcomes the lifting of engine development restrictions in 2017, though he says F1 must ensure customer teams do not get hit with additional costs as a result.

"Yes [it's encouraging] but it’s going to be the same for everybody. I think it should be like this and the engine manufacturer should have less restriction, especially when you see that they are struggling to catch up on this very complicated technology. As long as they can afford it, it’s fine, and as long as it doesn’t go back to customer team price and everything."