McLaren delaying final stage of MCL60 development plan

McLaren has adjourned the third and final stage of its massive update programme for its MCL60 contender due to design and production delays.

The Woking-based successfully implemented its first significant upgrade in Austria, a change that was followed by another important step at Silverstone where Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished respectively second and fourth.

In Hungary, save for Piastri's car receiving the most recent specification, McLaren's MCL60 is unchanged in Hungary this weekend. Team boss Andrea Stella explained why.

"So, first thing to say is here we have the front wing to be allocated to Oscar," he explained. "The new front wing wasn't possible [at Silverstone] because of the limited number of parts in the UK.

"Then when it comes to the upgrades, actually we realised that we need from a design and production point of view a bit more time to complete the full round.

"So, what we will actually see is that there will be some new parts coming in the next races and above all, post-shutdown."

• Read also: Stella insists McLaren resurgence is 'a group work'

Since Austria, the wholesale changes to McLaren's MCL60 have involved revised sidepods and a modified floor design, a new front wing and nose cone and tweaks to the car's rear suspension and rear brake duct geometry.

The undeniable gains produced by the changes have been heralded by Stella as "a milestone" in McLaren's journey to restore its former lustre and join the fight at the front of the grid.

"It's important for McLaren, it's important for the people that worked very hard to develop and deliver these upgrades, and our fans," explained Stella.

"But having said, it doesn't really change what we are doing. It's about working hard to deliver upgrades to the car and letting the results come to you and try to have this as regular as possible."

McLaren transformation also includes a significant restructuring of its design department. Stella believes the team's recent organizational are already bearing fruit.

"By having enabled some conditions, especially when it comes to the aerodynamic development, [it] definitely accelerated the development of the car," he said.

"This has allowed us to take this performance step."

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