Over the last two weekends, Mclaren have improved massively, and in Silverstone, Lando Norris finished on the podium and Oscar Piastri ended up in P4 after the race. Team principal Andrea Stella says McLaren will continue to bring upgrades, to the upcoming races as well after the success of their new package.
"For Hungary, we have some further updates that will let more from the point of view of trying to improve the race pace. These will be available to both drivers," Andrea Stella shared McLaren’s plans with GPblog among others.
"And by Hungary, we don't expect that the specification of the car will not be aligned between Oscar and Lando. Like any other team, we will carry on delivering some upgrades to the following races. This is also thanks to the fact that once we started redesigning the car, now we kind of unlocked performance and through iterations, we keep seeing the aerodynamic development being quite effective," Stella continued.
The Italian team principal was also happy with how things went this weekend, and hopes to capitalise on their recent success. "Obviously, as soon as you see that a project is mature enough to be delivered, you press the ‘Go’ button and you go. So, there will be some more stuff coming even after Hungary."
He also hopes the car can deal with the new set of challenges at the Hungaroring. "In a way, we look forward to Hungary to check more comprehensively where we really are. As you say, there's not as much high speed. If anything, it's a low, medium speed dominated track. And also you can have hot conditions, which is again another testing territory for us."
Stella also expanded on the vision the team based in Woking has for the future. "Our approach was always going to be we need to push as hard as possible in terms of development, but with a logic, with clear direction, and then we will see what we handle."
He added: "Obviously, our expectation is for McLaren to be able to compete for podiums in the future, next season, and for victories in the following season. If you want, this is kind of the long-term vision. But like I say, you don't deliver based on visions, you deliver based on the facts that you actually bring to the car. And that's our focus."
Stella was not short of praise for Oscar Piastri following the race either. "First of all, Oscar, performance is just outstanding. If you think he is a rookie. And right away, even in practice, he was immediately quick. He was immediately in some corners."
McLaren’s team principal continued: "A good reference for Lando himself. If you remember, with some of you, we were talking about the last corner in Barcelona. How quick he was straight away. And here, in some high-speed stuff, Oscar was again very quick."
Stella also underlined how Piastri can also make Norris perform better as well. "So this allows also some synergies between the drivers, because both can see where you can improve from each other. And this elevates the performance of both drivers. So not only we are impressed, but there's a net benefit in having two competitive drivers, because both can benefit."
This is so cool to see McLaren back in the mix. I hope they can stay there and that Silverstone wasn't just a flash in the pan.
I'd like to see Williams stay in the top 10 or better too.
This will make for some amazing races from 2nd place and below.
Were these updates designed and developed under James Key. If yes, then it's big loss for them.
Looks like Aston Martin have went backwards with their Canada update.
Poor performance in Hungary will confirm it.
Martin and Mercedes wont be strong in Hungary. Its just my analysis. The should be stronger in SPA...............along with the Mclaren. Mclaren could again hit P2 or P3 in SPA
Hungary doesn't have high speed corners so it should suit Ferrari, Aston and Merc. McLaren will suffer a bit however their drivers might make a difference. Will be interesting.
You are right about Spa. McLaren could fight for podium with both their cars.
Ya that will be fun to see. I expect Lando to take P2 or minimum P3 at SPA. Its very exciting to see Mclaren in the mix after such a long period. I am a fan of Lando as well and was very happy to see him smiling and joking on the podium. Hope we see more of that.
definitely...AM completely failed car's modernization. it seems they are still strong on some specific tracks with slow corners like Monaco or Canada but on such tracks as Barcelona or Silverstone Aston Martin is quite mediocre, on the same level with Alpine and Williams
Aston weren't that bad at Jeddah which is fast flowing track. Could be just bad update, their base is good.
since Jeddah other teams (especially Mclaren) did huge step forward and evolving their cars while AM stayed on the same level and didn't bring any updates (or probably these updates made car even worse)
Mclaren as a team beating Ferrari looks a little further away at the moment, but Lando Norris can aim for 5th Position in the standings very realistic if 4th by end of the season will over the moon for the team
If only Ferrari had sorted out their porpoising issue this season.
Their higher tyre degradation issues are directly related to bouncing which they are still denying.
Mclaren is rising from the ashes. Hope we see a good battle between Ferrari, RB and Mclaren in Hungary.
Yeah I agree ?
I would also add ALO in that battle. Would be great to watch ✌️