McLaren confirms double Dutch GP upgrade ‘to complete Hungary package’

McLaren has revealed it is bringing further upgrades to the MCL40 at the Dutch Grand Prix to “complete the package introduced in Hungary.”

McLaren won for the first time this season in Budapest after introducing updates, with Lando Norris claiming the first victory of his title defence.

McLaren upgrades coming to Zandvoort after Hungaroring success

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Norris’ win marked a competitive breakthrough for the reigning world champions, having largely lagged behind Mercedes and Ferrari in the pecking order so far this season.

Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, McLaren has confirmed a new rear wing and new rear brake ducts will arrive on its cars, with team principal Andrea Stella having previously hinted there was more to come from its Hungary update package.

McLaren’s technical director for applied engineering, Neil Houldey, said the team is wary of its rivals bringing updates as well, but an updated rear end could pay dividends at the high-downforce Zandvoort layout.

“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,” Houldey explained.

“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.

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“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.

“We are moving into an extremely demanding second half of the season and with 12 races still to come, the team’s attention remains firmly on our own development and performance as we build on the work completed in the first half of the season to target greater consistency in extracting performance from the MCL40.”

McLaren currently sits third in the Constructors’ Championship on 220 points, 159 off Mercedes’ lead at the halfway point of the season.

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