Zak Brown admitted that McLaren will not win the title next year or even in 2020, but he believes the team is headed with a “clear direction.”

The British team has not won a title since 2008. A lack of success since then made the outfit swap from Mercedes to Honda engine.

But that moved turned out to be a bigger disaster that the team is still recovering from.

After three failed years, the Woking team switched partners once again and opted for Renault engine from this year. The outfit has seen a marked improvement in its performance since the beginning of the season.

But despite major upgrades and points finishes, McLaren is still way off from podium finishes.

Speaking in an official interview for the Formula 1 website, Brown said: “It was a definite step forward,”

“It was good because the car was responsive, and the drivers liked it, so it was substantial.

“And there was a good correlation with what we had expected from our wind tunnel research, so it gives us a better platform for the next upgrades.”

McLaren’s target of chasing Red Bull is not realistic for this season, Brown admitted.

“We’re too far off that,” he admitted. “And it’s not going to happen overnight.”

He added: “I know we’re under pressure, I know I’m under pressure.

“Probably, if there’s a frustrating thing – and you know because you know racing – it’s that people don’t understand just how long these things take.

“Right now, we just have to be head down, doing the hard work, focused, and with a clear direction.”

Though they are headed in the right direction, the Woking team will not win the title next year or even in 2020, he added.

“Right now, we just have to be head down, doing the hard work, focused, and with a clear direction.”