After Mixed Bag Effects of Baku Upgrade, Lando Norris & Co. Shift the Goalpost of F1 Recovery Again With Upcoming Overhaul

McLaren suffered a big setback when they failed to defend their 4th place in the constructors’ standings last year. The poor start to the 2023 season does not promise any better results, either. However, the Woking-based team is bracing itself for the addition of a new weapon to its arsenal. Team boss Andrea Stella believes it to be a step in the right direction. Can this new addition give Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri a much-needed boost?

Zak Brown delivered a piece of disappointing news right before the start of the season. He told the media that his team was running behind on its targets and, resultantly, the car that they would sport for the first few races would not be the one they intended on fielding. That showed in the results, as Norris and Piastri were too slow and found it difficult to even finish in the point-scoring positions. Then the team had some upgrades, mostly concerning the underbody, that they fielded in Baku. Those changes instantly paid off as Norris scored points while Piastri missed out by a whisker. All progress seemed to fade away in Miami, where the duo struggled to find grip and finished P17 (Norris) and P19 (Piastri). While Lando took damage during a first-lap incident, Oscar had a brake-by-wire issue.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ready to reap rewards of an upcoming change

Just like many other midfield and lower-rung teams, McLaren does not have a wind tunnel of its own. Until now, they used Toyota’s wind tunnel, which is located in Cologne. In 2019, they announced the construction of a wind tunnel of their which was under construction in their Woking base itself and was expected to be completed by mid-2023.

Confirming its availability in the near future, Andrea Stella, while speaking with Auto Motor und Sport, said, “With our new wind tunnel, which will soon be available to us, we should be able to collect more representative data because the walls there can be adjusted. Hopefully we’ll be smarter in a few months if we can compare the results of the first runs with the data from the last few years.” [Translated using Google]

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McLaren had some changes to the car that they intended to field in Imola. However, owing to the tragic floods and the resultant devastation, F1 called off the Grand Prix. Nevertheless, Stella wasn’t too optimistic about those upgrades.

Andrea Stella paints a gloomy picture of the upcoming changes to the MCL60

Just like most other teams, McLaren is currently looking to bring in some small changes. Once the summer break arrives, there will be a big overhaul in rivals’ car design. However, McLaren is looking to do that before the long break. Stella, meanwhile, isn’t too upbeat about them bringing a significant uptick in performance.

He continued, “What is coming in Imola was developed a month or two ago. We will bring a few small things. But they are not enough to regularly score points again.”

Referring to the big upgrade package, he said, “It will be divided into two races: Canada and England. We skip the race in Austria in between because it is “It’s a sprint weekend. We don’t have the confidence with the size of the package. In Baku we did it despite the sprint because it was just the underbody. The next upgrade we’ll have to do more remodeling. That’s why we’re going to have the complete package first shown at Silverstone.”

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The addition of the wind tunnel at the Woking factory is a big boost for the team. Certainly, it will help McLaren gauge their progress. But for now, clearly, the team boss isn’t showing any signs for the Papaya Army to celebrate about.