McLaren: Upcoming upgrade 'a milestone in turning season around'

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella says the team's upcoming big three-step upgrade will represent a milestone in terms of potentially turning around the Woking-based outfit's season.

McLaren significantly revised the floor element of its MCL60 in Azerbaijan at the end of April.

While the team has since added small changes to its contender, its next upgrade package that will be spread over three races – in Austria, Britain and Hungary – will equate to rolling out a veritable B-spec car.

In Canada last weekend, Stella called the forthcoming update a "major overhaul" impacting almost "every single aerodynamic part" on McLaren's MCL60.

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"Relatively soon at the start of the season, we realised that the car needed a fundamental redesign,” said Stella.

"That’s why the upgrades will be spread over the course of a few races.

"It will be noticeable. We had to redesign even some parts under the bodywork. That’s also why it took some time to be in condition to deliver these upgrades.

"I would say it’s pretty much the entire car."

Fifty-percent of Mclaren's new package will be implemented at next week's Austrian Grand Prix, with the remaining half distributed over the Silverstone and Hungaroring weekends.

Stella expects the Red Bull Ring's high-speed layout to cater to the qualities of McLaren's car, but believes the updates will render the machine polyvalent across a diversity of tracks.

"I think this [upgrade package] can be more important than how suitable the track is to the characteristics of our car," explained the Italian.

"Ultimately for us, it’s a milestone in terms of possibly turning around the situation this season. Not only thanks to what we bring to Austria, but also with thanks for what will follow in the next races."

"So our focus, more than the characteristics of the track, is now on the car itself. So even if we have only one session [due to the weekend being a sprint event], hopefully we’d be able to validate the new package, and from there move on to a more competitive situation."

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