McLaren have introduced an upgrade for their car one race earlier than planned, but only Lando Norris will be able to run it.
The team originally intended to bring its latest specification for both drivers at the British Grand Prix next week. However Norris confirmed they were able to produce enough of the new parts for him to run a significant amount of the upgrade at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.“We weren’t meant to have any of this really for this weekend,” said Norris, “it was all meant to come for Silverstone. So the fact we’ve got some of it, not even all of it, is already going to be a good step forward.”
McLaren were especially keen to introduce the upgrade early as there are more points available for this weekend than there are in the British Grand Prix.
“With it being a sprint race there’s maybe some opportunity to get points if you can, if it’s enough of a step, two times,” said Norris. “Which is why we pushed everyone so much and the team were able to deliver on getting some bits here earlier.”
The team stated at the launch of its MCL60 four months ago they were not going to start the season with the car in its intended state. Aside from a revision to its floor which was introduced at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the MCL60 hasn’t had any performance updates, only track-specific changes.
“This is our first upgrade of the season, really, that’s done out of performance,” said Norris. “We obviously have had an upgrade in Baku, but it wasn’t a performance-deliver.
“This is the updated version of what we had there. So it’s been quite a while, feels like it’s been a very long time. But at the same time the team did a good job. We wanted to make sure things were done correctly and done in the right way. So I want to say I have confidence that it’s a decent step.”
“This is kind of what we would have wanted in Baku,” he added. “Everything we’ve got now is a bit of a trail on from what we learned over the winter and then what we had for Baku we did the floor and a lot of it’s a different philosophy of designing things.”
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Yellow Baron
29th June 2023, 19:37
What on earth is going on with their livery.
HT Onk (@pweb87)
29th June 2023, 21:08
Such a mess. That heritage livery from the last races looked so much cleaner and better…
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
29th June 2023, 22:03
It’s the blackest ever. Should bring them closer to Mercedes.
MacLeod (@macleod)
30th June 2023, 8:02
weight savings that is carbon what you see.
Gerrit
30th June 2023, 11:06
The fact that the carbon has a clear coating means there is no weight saving. Pigmented coatings are clear coatings with pigments added. Weight of pigments is barely nothing. Plastic wrapping is also very light so no real advantage.
obster
29th June 2023, 22:27
Smart idea.
He’s pretty good at this track.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th June 2023, 22:29
True, there was a time when mclaren was fairly competitive in 2021 and norris got within half a tenth of pole in one of the austrian races.
Stoo (@stewart51)
30th June 2023, 11:38
Arms; Legs; Wrists; Fingers and Eyes all firmly Crossed – lets hope the desired performance actually shows itself !