McLaren is optimistic that its development programme at the upcoming rounds will see it continue to make progress up the grid.
McLaren scored its first double points finish of the season in Russia, with Fernando Alonso finishing sixth and Jenson Button tenth. Racing director Eric Boullier believes it is just the start of a return to form for the team as it prepares to bring a raft of updates to the car at the next round in Spain.
"Our double points finish in Sochi was certainly a motivating factor for the whole team back in Woking, Sakura and Milton Keynes, but it's only just the start of an upward curve that we hope to continue riding for the rest of the season," he said. "In Russia, there's no doubt we gained from others' misfortune in some ways, but both our drivers report positively about the balance of the car, which reassures us that we've created a solid foundation, and that we can have faith in the direction in which we're going.
"We're always impatient for more, but I'm pleased that the hard work consistently being undertaken behind the scenes was finally rewarded with some valuable points, and we head into the European season hopeful of scoring some more positive results at circuits on which our car should theoretically be slightly stronger. That, coupled with an unrelenting development programme, is exciting and gives us optimism for the next few races ahead.
"It certainly won't be easy -- while we'll be evaluating upgrades to the car in Barcelona, so will many other teams -- but the loyal Spanish fans will be behind Fernando and the team, and we hope to put on a good show for them and carry some positive momentum into the European season."
Alonso said McLaren still needs to work on its qualifying pace and suspects breaking into the top ten this weekend in Spain will be difficult.
"We're still learning a lot about our package as we visit each track, so it's useful that we already have a lot of data from testing there that we can use to understand its characteristics and how our car will react to them. Our performance in qualifying is something we're working on all the time, to give us the best chance in the race. Getting into Q3 will certainly be difficult at this track, but, with the Spanish fans behind me, that's got to be our aim."