McLaren confirm further boost after victory breakthrough

McLaren has confirmed the introduction of fresh F1 upgrades at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend as it looks to continue its strong momentum.

The Woking-based squad prevailed in Hungary last time out to win its first grand prix of the season.

Its step forward in pace came following the introduction of a significant upgrade package, which includes changes to the floor and the rear wing.

For the upcoming round at Zandvoort, where Lando Norris won 12 months ago, it will introduce further modifications.

McLaren has confirmed that the parts will be “focused on the rear side, to complete the package introduced in Hungary, a new rear wing and new rear brake ducts”. 

However, the team will have little time to get the new parts evaluated as F1 heads into a sprint weekend, which will see just one 60-minute practice session take place before the competitive sessions.

“We head into the Zandvoort weekend after finishing the final race before the shutdown with a win and a strong performance, but we are very aware of how close the competition is and how important reliability will be,” said McLaren technical director Neil Houdley. 

“We have learned a lot in the first part of the season about how this car needs to be driven to extract performance and on containing the issues we faced earlier in the year. 

“We have also worked hard as a team on continued development with some parts available this weekend focusing on the rear side, to complete the package introduced in Hungary with a new rear wing and new rear brake ducts. 

“But we know other teams will bring developments too. Therefore, it will be another tough event, and our focus is on getting everything we can out of the car. 

“If we execute well, we can put ourselves in the fight with the leading teams.”