Andreas Seidl has denied that his arrival was the key to McLaren's surge in 2019 form.
The German, who is best known for leading Porsche's ultra successful Le Mans team, started work at Woking on May 1.
Before that, McLaren had gone through the disastrous Honda era, hosted the demise of Fernando Alonso's F1 career, and set up the 2019 Indy 500 effort that failed even to qualify.
Did Seidl, who was last in Formula 1 in 2009 with BMW-Sauber, save McLaren from the Zak Brown reign?
"Definitely not," the 43-year-old told Auto Bild.
"Zak Brown had already initiated what is happening now through structural changes last season," Seidl insisted.
"As far as I'm concerned, just like our chief designer James Key, I'm still in a learning phase. It takes time to get involved in a large organisation like McLaren.
"However, it is important that the construction of a new wind tunnel has been approved," he said.
Seidl said McLaren is doing well in 2019, but he is committed to helping the team perform even better.
"Now it's important for me to work out a clear vision. But what I already see is that with the opportunities, the people and the budget we have, we have not done well enough.
"It is time to figure out why," he insisted.
Seidl says he is happy to be back in Formula 1 after a decade elsewhere.
"For me it was always clear that if the opportunity arose, I want to go back to Formula 1.
"The fact that I have full freedom in a traditional team like McLaren is extremely motivating," he said.
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