As McLaren continues to lose ground, team boss Martin Whitmarsh had admitted that the focus is now switching to the 2014 season.

Outclassed by Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus, Mercedes and even Force India, it was only a matter of time before McLaren effectively gave up on the current season and instead switched its focus to 2014.

Speaking to reporters at Silverstone, a circuit on which his team has enjoyed 14 wins, the first in 1973 (Peter Revson) the most recent in 2008 (Lewis Hamilton), Whitmarsh finally admitted the change of focus.

"We are now, earlier than usual, putting a lot more effort and resource onto next year's programme, which we need to do because we have a whole new raft of regulations and we've got to be realistic about what is achievable."

However, he was quick to insist that the team won't entirely give up on the current season.

"Those of us that come racing are still racers," he said, "so there is no give up in the race team and we will do everything we can to understand the car and make it quicker and make it better and then race as well as we can. We will be pushing hard but I think we've got to be realistic in terms of what our priorities are. We've got a big few years ahead of us, 2014 is a challenge for everyone and that makes it an opportunity and we have many more resources applied to that than we normally do.

"We're strengthening the team and we're recruiting quite strongly into the technical organisation and that's to meet the challenge not only of 2014 but also the exciting challenge of 2015," he added, referring to the recently announced partnership with Honda. "We've got to race as hard as we can and we've got to take what is up for grabs, but we have to absolutely be determined that next year we are in a competitive situation and build upon that in 2015 and beyond as we enter a new and exciting phase for the team."

Referring to the MP4-28, he admitted that the front suspension has been one of the biggest problems, the Woking team, unlike its rivals, opting for a radical redesign for 2013.

"It's primarily the front," he admitted. "The suspension systems front and rear are quite different. The front suspension connects and holds the wheels on the car, as you know, but it is also right in the wake and wake management of the front wing and that's had quite a big influence on what we are doing and that knocked on to a whole development path that I think at one stage was quite wrong.

"In truth we've struggled more than a bit, we are struggling a lot," he continued. "We are lacking downforce and as I've said before, I think we took some wrong paths in the winter and I think we are behind in the development cycle. We have had a lot of wet Fridays and that hasn't helped, although so has everyone else, but in the position we're in we're trying to understand.

"For the two drivers it has been particularly difficult because they have a broad range of things to try and do and it doesn't help them in preparing for the weekend. We come out of each session with the car not responding as clearly and cleanly as we would want. Every now and again there is a glimmer of hope and performance but I think that makes it difficult for the drivers and the engineering team to really make the progress that we want."