McLaren has no regrets about 'size zero', to keep F1 packaging

McLaren opted for aggressive aerodynamic packaging at the rear of the MP4-30 around the power unit Honda developed for its F1 return.

There have been suggestions such packaging contributed to some of the problems encountered by McLaren-Honda in 2015, and resulted in its abysmal season.

Boullier, however, insisted McLaren had to try something different in order to close the gap to rivals Mercedes and Ferrari in particular, and will continue to pursue the same philosophy this year.

"No regrets at all," Boullier told Autosport when asked on the subject.

"If you want to win you don't copy the others. You need to do something better.

"We knew we would have to go through some pain, although we were not expecting what we felt, which was huge.

"But we also knew we had to work on solutions that would be better than the currently dominant forces."

Asked whether 'size zero' was being maintained for this season, and whether the team believed it remained the right route, Boullier replied: "Yes, definitely."

With Peter Prodromou leading the aerodynamic department, in conjunction with Guillaume Cattelani, Boullier feels McLaren is making further progress.

Recruited from Red Bull, Prodromou's influence began to be felt over the second half of last season.

Boullier added: "The major influence of Pete was bringing a new philosophy, a new way of understanding and building aero. That has been a major step forward.

"There were changes, we moved a few people, with Pete on top providing the lead, and it's working well, I'm very happy, with the car getting better and better.

"You have to remember that Formula 1 five years ago was free to develop, but we are not any more.

"There are more restrictions, and more restrictions means it's more difficult to catch up, and we are still catching up.

"But the car [this year] is already better [than last year], so it looks like we are go for another step."