McLaren sanction major Belgian GP upgrade after Silverstone tests

After a fresh dominant victory at the British Grand Prix, McLaren are not standing still as F1 2025 resumes in Belgium.

McLaren had taken a new floor for the MCL39 with them to Silverstone, and following the tests which took place there, CEO Zak Brown confirmed that the cars of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will be armed with the upgrade for the Belgian Grand Prix.

McLaren to put upgraded floor into action at Spa

McLaren may lead the Constructors’ Championship with a margin of 238 points over P2 Ferrari, while Oscar Piastri, P1 in the Drivers’ standings, is 69 points up on closest non-McLaren rival Max Verstappen, but the Woking squad are not standing still.

McLaren trialled a new floor for the MCL39 during the opening practice session at Silverstone. While pleased with the results, team principal Andrea Stella indicated that it would not see competitive action at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix since the Sprint format is back in action.

“With the new floor in FP1, the plan was always going to be that the floor was a test floor,” Stella is widely reported as having said.

“[It was to get an] early read of this new specification, because the next race is a Sprint event where it is more difficult to introduce a new specification, and make proper comparisons.

“We are actually pretty pleased with what we have seen in FP1. All the indications are leading us to introduce this new floor at upcoming events.”

But according to Brown, McLaren has sanctioned the upgraded floor to be bolted onto the MCL39s driven by Piastri and Norris for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Latest F1 2025 head-to-head standings from PlanetF1.com

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Asked by Sky F1 at Silverstone for his Belgian GP expectations, Brown said: “Kind of more of the same. Maybe not a 32-second win, but more of the same, as far as how close it is, right?

“This was a unique race because of the situation.

“The floor worked well, so we’ll be unwrapping that and throwing that on both cars. It was always intended to just be a test part this weekend, but we were happy with what we saw. So more to come.

“But I think all these races have been epic, even though the numbers are, what is it? Nine [wins] out of 12. Every race is pretty high stressful, so as long as they are great to watch on TV, I hope we do another nine out of 12. But it’s an exciting season.”

Of those nine victories, five have been one-two results for McLaren, as they march towards an F1 2025 title double.

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