McLaren have announced a series of 'significant' upgrades to their car over the next two races in a bid to revive Lando Norris's faltering title defence. The reigning constructors' champions have struggled to keep pace with Mercedes and Ferrari this season, trailing the former by 154 points in the standings.
Norris currently sits 82 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, with McLaren managing only four podium finishes in Grands Prix so far. The Briton finished third in Barcelona and fourth at Silverstone, while his teammate Oscar Piastri could only manage 11th at the British Grand Prix.
The team will introduce a new rear wing for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, to be evaluated during Friday practice. Both cars will also receive a new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) unit, the third of the season, supplied by Mercedes. This unit includes different specifications aimed at improving reliability, having debuted with the Mercedes works team in Austria and with customer teams at Silverstone.
However, McLaren anticipate a more significant performance boost from a larger upgrade package planned for the Hungarian Grand Prix the following weekend. Technical director Neil Houldey urged caution, stating that while the updates should add performance, the team does not expect a dramatic change in competitiveness after a difficult British Grand Prix.
Following the Hungarian race, Formula 1 will take a four-week break before resuming at Zandvoort in the Netherlands in late August.
