In addition to the engine upgrades Honda introduced for the , McLaren brought a new aerodynamic package for the MP4-30 which revised the front wing to increase downforce, altered the turning vanes to improve air flow over the front splitter, and adopted a concept pioneered by Ferrari to the rear floor designed to reduce the impact of airflow washing over the rear wheels and disrupting the rear diffuser, which in turn opened up a wider range of set-up options for the ride height and rake, or the angle between the front and rear ride height. These updates were designed to bring the MP4-30 in line with the designs developed by other teams. With the engine and aerodynamic updates, the team had hoped to compete for points on merit, and while Alonso clashed with Felipe Massa on the opening lap, he was running as high as fifth on the closing stages—and was on course to replicate the team's best result of the season—before suffering a loss of power and slipping back down the order to finish eleventh. With Alonso out of the points, Button was promoted to sixth. The race also saw what would be the car's best qualifying performance as Alonso started eleventh, while the six points Button scored saw the team close to within ten points of Sauber in the World Constructors' Championship. However, the result also meant that McLaren had endured its longest winless streak of fifty-three races, previously set between the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix and the 1981 British Grand Prix. Despite the progress that the team made over the previous rounds, the MP4-30's struggles continued in Mexico, with both drivers eliminated early in qualifying, and Jenson Button setting a new record for grid penalties, changing enough parts to warrant a seventy-place penalty. Alonso retired from the race with an incurable ERS problem that the team had identified the night before and Button finished fourteenth overall.