McLaren-Honda F1 chief Eric Boullier slams 'wrong expectations'

Drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have languished towards the rear of the grid through the first four grands prix of the 2015 F1 season due to a number of issues, predominantly courtesy of the Honda power unit.

Slowly but surely the faults are being eradicated and positivity remains high within the Woking-based marque.

But Boullier is frustrated with those outside the team who believed McLaren and Honda would hit the ground running and challenge Mercedes and Ferrari this campaign.

"Nobody is happy with the qualifying position and the race results we've had, but this is what we have," Boullier told AUTOSPORT.

"Neither driver is happy with the situation, but they are happy with what they can see coming, and I can tell you the atmosphere within the team is fantastic, everybody is full of work, full of commitment.

"The most important thing is we know what we are doing, where we are weak - and when I say 'we' I mean McLaren and Honda - and we have to work at it.

"The worse thing is to have the wrong expectations.

"It is true people were expecting Honda to turn up with McLaren and win everything, but that was the wrong expectation."

Boullier believes the naysayers only need look at Mercedes as the perfect example of an organisation that rode into F1 on the back of the success of another team, but which had to bide its time before achieving success.

"Mercedes is a special case because they benefited from a big change in the regulations, which was a good move for them," added Boullier.

"But they showed there is no magic wand. You can't turn up, bang, and win. It is impossible.

"After Brawn GP it took Mercedes four years to build their organisation, something similar with Red Bull, which is a normal cycle in racing.

"I'm not saying we need four years, but it is what it is, and if people don't like it, they don't like it.

"We are not happy to be where we are, definitely not, but we are flat-out everywhere to make sure we will get there, and we will get there properly.

"We want to be back for the long term, as the leading team McLaren is.

"And when I say properly, there are some steps and stages you need to go through because you can't buy experience and time.

"But when we eventually get there we will be good enough for the long term."