Martin Whitmarsh is confident McLaren can launch an assault on next season's Formula One world titles after rediscovering the winning habit.

McLaren team principal Whitmarsh has revealed "a dramatic re-think" was required to turn around the team's fortunes following a woeful start to the year that at one stage saw Lewis Hamilton endure a run of five races without a point.

But world champion Hamilton was back on the top step of the podium in Hungary 10 days ago, the 24-year-old's first win since October last year.

With McLaren now back on the right track, Whitmarsh has vowed there will be no let up for the remainder of this season as they build for a full-on championship tilt next year.

"Sometimes you have to take a step backward to go forward," said Whitmarsh on what was required to end the team's poor form.

"Inadvertently, for a whole variety of reasons, we had managed to get ourselves into a cul de sac of development, and we needed to reverse out of that.

"There was a high level of motivation from everyone, the designers, aerodymanicists, engineers, manufacturing staff, operational staff, the race team.

"It wasn't a significant issue causing people to focus on it, we knew what we had to do, we just had to find a way to achieve our goal.

"I'm glad to say we've made some good progress, clearly evident on the race track, but we're not going to stop at that.

"We're going to continue to develop this car, we want to win more races this year, but most importantly we want to ensure we have a competitive car for next season.

"We've every reason to be confident, but at the same time we can't be complacent. We know how competitive Formula One is.

"A lot of teams have already stopped their development for this year and are committed to next year.

"We have to make sure we do a better job than them, that we're competitive next year, and that's certainly the goal of this team - to be competitive, winning races and the world championship next year."

Whitmarsh has revealed that joining Hamilton on the podium for the first time as team boss, and in particular after all the struggles of the previous few months, was a remarkable feeling.

"I'm immensely proud and passionate about this team, one I've been involved with for a long period of time," added Whitmarsh.

"Although I've been on podiums before, involved in world title wins which have all been great, to stand on the podium as team principal was a very, very proud moment for me personally.

"I'm proud to be a member of this team, proud of what everyone has done.

"In any season it is difficult to recover, but to recover in a season with no track testing, is an amazing effort by everyone."