Sergio Perez is confident McLaren will be in the hunt this season after doing an "extremely good job" in pre-season testing.
Joining McLaren from Sauber, Perez has entered Formula One's top echelons where much is expected of the 23-year-old.
Perez, though, believes he can fulfill those expectations as he prepares to battle it out for this season's top prizes.
"I enjoy every single day I spend at the factory with my team and I'm enjoying life a lot," he told Autosport.
"First of all I'm really enjoying my work and I'm very motivated. I think if we keep doing the same, we will be fighting for big things this year.
"The atmosphere in the team is great. Everything is so united. From the outside it might look a very cold team but it's a great team, very happy and I'm enjoying every day."
The Mexican driver is now awaiting his first grand prix as a McLaren driver after a solid showing in pre-season testing.
Perez finished the final test at Barcelona tenth overall while his team-mate Jenson Button was fifth.
"It's just a bit disappointing not to get everything, but it's normal, you will not get everything done for the first race," said Perez.
"The most important thing is taking every opportunity you have to maximise work with the team, and that's what we've been doing.
"We have done an extremely good job in this pre-season."
