Was McLaren-Honda's first test a disaster?

Troubled. Difficult. Disastrous. On the face of it, if you'd asked somebody to describe the first proper test of the new McLaren-Honda Formula 1 partnership in Abu Dhabi this week in one word, they'd probably use one of those three adjectives.

The MP4-29H, which broke cover at a Silverstone filming day earlier this month, was beset by electrical problems that severely limited its running during post-season F1 testing at the Yas Marina circuit on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The car did not leave the garage until there were less than three hours of testing left on day one, and reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne completed just two full installation laps either side of breaking down on the circuit.

Further electrical problems with Honda's first V6 hybrid turbo engine confined the car to the garage for most of the second day too, as the team chased gremlins that were interfering with various elements of the electrical systems.

It completed one clean installation lap on Wednesday afternoon, before breaking down again when the car suffered what McLaren racing director Eric Boullier described as a "complete blackout". The car will now be sent back to McLaren's Woking base for a full investigation.

Stoffel Vandoorne didn't spend a lot of time in the cockpit © XPB

Troubled. Difficult. Disastrous. They seem like appropriate words. Even Boullier suggested the lack of running was "not good enough".

But maybe all is not as bad as it seems. Running the Honda-engined hack in the final test of 2014 was never certain to happen, which is probably why Boullier continually referred to the Abu Dhabi outing as a "bonus" for McLaren-Honda.

The Frenchman clearly sees the events of Yas Marina as a blessing in disguise - getting some of the woes that ruined the early part of the 2014 season for many teams out of the way now, rather than encountering them in two months' time in Spain.

"Obviously it has not gone [as well] as expected, or dreamed, but you need to remember a year ago - we didn't do one single lap the first day at Jerez," Boullier tells AUTOSPORT, thinking back to the opening test under F1's current engine regulations, when McLaren first ran its customer Mercedes V6.

"We have pushed this hybrid development car to run here, which for us is a bonus because everything we do now is not to be done next year. It's a head start.

"I'm not saying it's good - it's never good to not hit the track - but all the problems we went through are a learning process that isn't going to happen again. There is some positive in the negative.

"The other very important thing is bringing McLaren and Honda together. Running the operation on track is another headache to go through. We have a very heavy IT infrastructure because we have to connect Japan with England with the track, wherever we are in the world.

Connecting McLaren and Honda's operations was a big part of test number one © XPB

"People don't realise that. We need three mission controls to work together for data sharing. This is also a big challenge, and at least this is done - one less [thing] on the list for next year.

"When we turn up at Jerez next year we will have a very strong organisation, already ready for operations, and we will not need to go through the first list of problems because it's done already.

"Yes, it's not nice to not hit the track, but there is a lot of positive for us."

Honda too downplayed the effect of the problems, as its motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai emphasised that rival manufacturers suffered similar difficulties when their engines first took to the track at the start of the year.

But there is no doubt such little running during last week's test has put the McLaren-Honda project behind schedule.

Boullier talked ahead of the test about doing 10 runs to check the systems (phase one), before moving on to longer running to push the engine and test its energy recovery abilities (phase two).

Five outings across both days, coupled with some basic maths, suggests phase one is certainly not completed... That's why Honda will now go back to work at its dyno and try to solve the problems encountered in the Middle East.

Boullier remains hopeful the uncompleted work from Abu Dhabi can be finished at the factory. If not, he hasn't ruled out using another filming day to make up for lost time before Jerez.

Like the rest of the field, McLaren took a battering from Mercedes in 2014 © LAT

But even once the McLaren-Honda is electrically sound enough to run, then comes the question of performance.

Mercedes has dominated the first season of competition for these hybrid engines, and rivals are concerned the German manufacturer will be even further ahead next year.

Surely McLaren will still have to endure the teething troubles and developmental difficulties suffered by other teams as they've embarked on a vain chase of the Silver Arrows?

Boullier thinks not. He reckons McLaren-Honda will catch up fast, because a works partnership means closer collaboration and faster, tailor-made improvements.

"We have works team status with Honda, which means the relationship is much more open than you may have as a customer," Boullier adds.

"This means you can find out what's wrong quicker, because you have more data.

"I'm pretty sure everybody has brought some experience from the pitlane. We have people who went though the pain with different engine manufacturers before. That helps.

The last time Ron Dennis worked with Honda, results were spectacular © LAT

"We have a very ambitious project with Honda, but we have the expertise to get on top of it.

"I believe the experience gained last winter will be very helpful. I'm not saying we're going to win the first race, but I'm pretty confident.

"Once we fix the issue here it means we can run. Installation issues, cooling - we have been on top of this already.

"On the list we have a lot of things ticked. The key is to make sure this ambitious ERS package is working. Then, if we can run from Jerez, our learning curve will be massive. Quicker than other teams."

Boullier's optimism is also partly rooted in the restructuring of McLaren's technical team that he has undertaken since arriving in Woking. The team developed the MP4-29 pretty well across the season, and Boullier believes the combination of an enhanced McLaren technical structure and Honda will surprise the sceptics.

"Don't underestimate the McLaren power as well," Boullier says. "It may not have delivered performance on track the last two years, but the power is still there. With what we have done, McLaren is back.

"This is why a lot of people - and some we cannot name here - have been seriously convinced about what we are doing. Even if there is some pain going through, they know this is the right place to be for the future."

This future didn't have the brightest start in Abu Dhabi this week, but if McLaren and Honda are worried, they are doing a very good job of looking relaxed about it.

HONDA MOTORSPORT CHIEF YASUHISA ARAI ON PROGRESS SO FAR

When Honda was last in F1 it performed poorly - what gives you confidence you will be competitive this time around?

"The last era was not so good for us in [terms of] results. We wanted to return to F1 and we learned a lot 'underground'.

"The current regulations are more suitable to our line of work. Honda has already developed a hybrid system and we have a lot of experience in this field.

"A downsized turbo with direct injection we learned in-house with a mass-production car. We have lots of great technology already."

Which element of the power unit is the biggest challenge to get right?

Yasuhisa Arai addresses the media © LAT

"Building up the engine [into] a complete system, not only each unit but how to make a whole sophisticated system is a very big challenge.

"On the hardware side, the MGU-H is a little bit complicated. High rpm. And [dealing with] the turbo heat..."

Do you expect a year of learning and improving, or do you think you can take on Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault straight away?

"I hope so. There's a little bit of an advantage to learn from the mass-production cars. We do a lot of hybrid systems. There are some very important points we already know. We can easily understand the root cause of problems."

Because you already know how the systems work?

"That's right. I hope that's an advantage. But in the meantime we don't have the track test data, we have no experience and we have no feedback from drivers. That's a big problem. We don't know about the actual racing, side-by-side, overtaking, the airflow... But we're very interested to learn."

How much influence has McLaren had on the engine?

"Honda makes the power unit system, including the energy recovery, but they [McLaren] have lots of experience on the circuit, so we are always discussing how to use it, and some ideas came from McLaren. Combined, it's a good relationship as one team. Very good."

How long will it take you to reach the top in F1?

"I hope that it will come next season. We want to win - always. We have a good expectation.

"Today's engines are of course not for the actual race. We are on schedule to develop that for the coming season and we expect two more steps. We want to qualify well on the grid in Australia."