Zak Brown has said that he is "pleasantly surprised" by how well McLaren has done so far this season but believes that there is still a big gap between them and the likes of Red Bull. McLaren has made massive progress since last season and with two new drivers, the team looks fresh and competitive. However, McLaren are aware of how tight the midfield is and will not be getting ahead of themselves.

"I think that will probably be optimistic," Brown said to Motorsport.com when asked about closing the gap to Red Bull.

"I was pleasantly surprised we were as close to them at the weekend. But I think we still feel there is a big gap to the top three, and I don't think this weekend changes our views."

"We definitely feel we had a made a step but it is close in the midfield," he said. "There is just nothing between fourth and ninth.

"I still think there will be weekends where we are the fourth/fifth quickest team and other weekends where we are the eighth/ninth quickest team. So far we have been near the fourth/fifth in qualifying and race pace, but I think it will be track specific.

"I am really pleased we have the two drivers we have because that can make a difference in the team championship. So for us, it's just head down and we've got to keep working hard because it is a development war."

McLaren will hope that the season continues to go well for them in China next weekend.