McLaren have dropped a radical exhaust system which they had hoped would bring significant downforce to the car, opting instead for a much simpler solution, says team principal Martin Whitmarsh.
The new option, it is hoped, will bring a second per lap of performance to the MP4-26 in-time for the opening race in Australia this coming weekend, without the reliability drawbacks experienced with the previous system.
In combination with a new floor and other updates, the team are hopeful they can be on the lead pace.
“I’m not satisfied with where the car was on reliability or performance in the test,” he said during a Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes phone-in. “We have made some fairly dramatic changes, and those changes we will see in Australia,” Autosport quote him as saying.
“There’s some risk in that, but I think it was the right thing to do and we’re hopeful that that risk comes off and the car is a lot more competitive in Australia.
“We have a completely new floor and a new exhaust system. There are a lot of other bits and pieces, but they’re the clear and obvious ones that people will see in Australia.”
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