It is extremely heartbreaking for a team to ace qualifying and not be able to capitalize on it during the race. Make it in back-to-back races and it almost weakens the whole morale of the team. This has been the case with McLaren, and especially with Lando Norris. The Brit trickled down out of points in Barcelona after his first lap crash and the five-second penalty in Canada. However, these unfortunate scenarios aren’t enough to dampen McLaren’s pursuit of Alpine, currently 27 points ahead. In fact, an upcoming change is keeping the spirits of the Woking outfit high.

Not too long ago, Norris exposed a long list of shortcomings in the MCL60. As it turns out, McLaren was already working on overcoming these shortcomings and they will take the first step toward it in Austria. McLaren will introduce the first of their systematic three-part upgrades over the next three races. There are high expectations from these upgrades and that has exactly what has kept the team’s spirits high according to TP Andrea Stella which he revealed in the F1 Nation podcast.

Stella revealed, “The mood at McLaren is definitely high. I would say, it’s not only about the mood, which could be something that fluctuates over the short term. I think what is high at the moment at McLaren is the level of energy and the level of awareness in the potential that we are building in the team. Looking back at the last two races clearly the positives that we saw some indications that the car can be quick.”

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The heightened sense of hope is definitely contagious and it has spread to the drivers as well apart from the McLaren bosses.

Lando Norris reveals his excitement about the upcoming upgrades in Austria

The Brit has been on the disappointing end because of his car’s abilities and the results in the first eight races. However, all that might change starting from the Austrian GP. This thought alone has filled Norris with a sense of positivity and hope.

He confessed, “I look forward to anything that’s new. It’s been a lot of work that’s gone into it. We’ve been quite patient with what we’ve had; we’ve been chipping away at many other things at the same time.” This is a rare bit of positive remark we’ve heard from the Brit in the season so far.

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Let’s hope the upgrades can deliver on the team’s expectations and not underwhelm. Although, Austria won’t be the true judge of that, as we would need to wait at least till Hungary to see these upgrades take full effect.