Fernando Alonso says McLaren won't be missing out of Q2 for long

The Spaniard and team-mate Jenson Button were knocked out in Q1 - and were only saved from being slowest by the presence of Manor.

But although the result is not any better than Australia, the team is encouraged by the improvement in pace that has allowed it to get within striking range of the cars in front.

"Obviously after Australia we knew more or less where we are and actually we are much better than what we thought before coming here in Malaysia," said Alonso. "But it is the way it is.

"We are underperforming a lot and we need to improve, but definitely the steps we are making in the car show a lot of progress. So I am optimistic that I will not be speaking here after Q1 for long."

Alonso says the fact that McLaren was closer to the ultimate pace was hugely satisfying.

"It was a long way off the pace in Australia, around 4.5 seconds, and here was 2.5/3 seconds. The step forward is massive. We are moving in the right direction."

Button believes that as well as a faster car for qualifying, that McLaren can expect better race performance too.

"There is a massive step forward in performance," he said. "We haven't been able to challenge the other cars in qualifying but it is a lot closer than Australia and I think the race pace is better than our qualifying pace.

"It is an improvement so we should be happy with the step, but we know there is a long way to go still."