Oscar Piastri believes McLaren still has work to do to iron out the weaknesses in the MCL60.
The British Grand Prix was a watershed moment for the team, with Lando Norris second and Piastri fourth.
That followed a promising performance in Austria, where McLaren began introducing a significant upgrade to its car.
The Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend marks the last tranche of that package.
However, Piastri does not believe it will transform the team’s fortunes week-in, week-out.
“The car is obviously a fair bit quicker than what we had at the start of the season,” the Australian began.
“I think it still has quite similar strengths and weaknesses that we’ve started to address, but it still needs some more work.”
Piastri’s comments echo those of team-mate Norris who suggested progress has been made but there is more to be done.
McLaren has done well in high-speed corners, though it has been found in slower-speed content.
It has also been harder on its tyres than some of its rivals, which has conspired to create a stark difference between good and bad weekends.
Fundamentally, Piastri suggests that hasn’t changed, with the car balance largely the same as what it was previously, simply with more load.
“The car doesn’t feel massively different,” he explained.
“It’s not like it’s a completely different animal to drive now.
“So we’ll have our strong tracks; I think Silverstone, with all the high-speed corners, suited us quite nicely.
“Here is obviously a much lower speed circuit, so we’ll see how we go.
“I think we’ll try and be optimistic that we can stay more towards the front, but whether we’ll be fighting for a podium again, I’m not quite sure.”
Piastri was unlucky in Silverstone to miss out on third.
Running behind team-mate Lando Norris in the opening stanza of the race, an ill-timed Safety Car saw him fall behind Lewis Hamilton.
Unable to pass, the 22-year-old finished just one spot away from the podium.
“Compared to where we had been at points during the season, to be disappointed with fourth place seemed a little bit harsh,” he said when asked if he was satisfied or frustrated by the result.
“Without that Safety Car, there’s always a question of what could have been, but I was just super happy to be back towards the front.
“And for the whole team, to be genuinely there on merit was very refreshing and nice reward for our hard work.
“Now we’ve got to try and maintain that and try and fight towards the front again.
“Yeah, I was thinking there might be a trophy coming my way for quite a lot of that race, but hopefully, I’ve got some more chances.”
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