Magnussen has low expectations for Australia

Magnussen will be racing for the Woking-based team in Melbourne after Fernando Alonso was ruled out following his accident during testing at Barcelona last month.

The Danish driver had just one day of testing with the Honda-powered car before the season opener, and he only managed 39 laps in that session.

Magnussen admits reliability remains a big concern.

"I would say quite low," said Magnussen about his expectations ahead of the race. "We're struggling obviously with reliability, making the car run for a long time.

"But this is a new start for McLaren, a new start in many ways and I think it's going to take time.

"But I think it's the right direction that the team has chosen to go and I think it has a bright future ahead. But I think it's going to take time but I'm sure they'll get there."

The McLaren driver said it would be very valuable to have trouble-free practice sessions in order to make up for the time lost during the pre-season.

"I didn't get as many laps as I thought I'd get but I would get maximum 150 laps in a day if everything runs perfectly," he said. "I got nearly 40 laps and I think all of those were low fuel, so at least I'm pretty prepared for that.

"I haven't felt the car on high fuel yet so that will be interesting to see how that feels. But you know I've driven race cars before, it's not a completely different thing. It's a different car but I think it should be OK."