McLaren 'much closer' to Renault than they were with Honda

Stoffel Vandoorne says McLaren are enjoying a closer relationship with Renault than they did at any point with three years alongside Honda. The Japanese manufacturer have enjoyed a fine pre-season powering Toro Rosso, but Vandoorne says his team are much happier having moved on.

McLaren spent three miserable seasons with Honda, regularly fighting at the back of the grid and suffering awful reliability as well as poor performance.

Fernando Alonso infamously blasted Honda as having provided a "GP2 engine" as he toiled in midfield.

The relationship broke down badly, with both sides criticising each other, but Vandoorne says the new union is much happier.

"Until now everything has been going very well," Vandoorne said.

"I think McLaren and Renault are perhaps closer than it's ever been with Honda, also because the culture is much more similar.

"It's a very open relationship. If somebody makes a mistake, the other party doesn't get the blame. If there's problems they quickly find a solution as well."

Despite enjoying a more harmonious partnership with Renault, McLaren have struggled for reliability more than any team in pre-season.

The team have been insistent that the issues are not expected to carry into the season, and Vandoorne is feeling positive before heading to Australia.

"Maybe that change was necessary to give the team a boost," he added.

"We have had a very positive test, even if we had some problems.

"Everyone has a positive feeling and that's important for our motivation.

"Of course there's teams that are very quick but I don't think the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes are our targets this year.

"We have to improve everywhere. This is a sport where there's not a single team that stops looking for improvements everywhere.

"Because you have a good feeling in the car, it's not that there's no issues to resolve.

"I'm happy with the package we have. In terms of the set-up we know more or less where we are with all the systems on the car. We understand how to use them."