McLaren has revealed that the reluctance to rush updates to its Formula 1 car has derived from wanting to avoid similar setbacks to those its rivals have experienced.
The Woking-based squad is engaged in a tightening title battle with Red Bull in which it has emerged as the benchmark team despite bringing minimal developments.
McLaren introduced a huge upgrade package in Miami which catapulted it closer to the sharp end and more updates arrived in Zandvoort as Lando Norris dominated.
But while work is ongoing on a new floor, McLaren is willing to wait to bolt it onto the MCL38 to negate the prospect that it might endure unanticipated complications.
Ferrari’s nascent challenge unravelled when a revised floor triggered high-speed bouncing, while Red Bull suspects that updates have caused its recent balance woes.
Meanwhile, both Aston Martin and Red Bull’s sister team, RB, have been made to abandon upgraded elements due to unwanted negative characteristics materialising.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella reckons implementing fewer upgrades compared to other teams has been a vital component in it avoiding such obstacles this campaign.
Asked how McLaren has dodged the problems that its competitors have faced, Stella said: “We haven’t brought a significant upgrade since Miami.
“The next relevant upgrade, not as big as Miami, was in Zandvoort, and it didn’t involve the floor – it was just a detail. It was some other areas of the car.
“But there’s a reason why we haven’t brought some upgrades – because we see that, had we pressed the go button, we might have had some doubts when these parts were tested full-scale on the real car.
“So we are taking our time to convince ourself that the development is mature to be taken trackside.”
Stella has denied that McLaren’s crushing advantage over the opposition at the Dutch Grand Prix indicated that it will maintain the upper hand in the remaining races.
However, the Italian has accepted that a front-row lock-out at Monza last weekend has proven it now boasts a package to be competitive on all circuit configurations.
“I think actually the grid order is very much to do with the drivers being able to nail the grip available, rather than the car being a dominant car,” he assessed.
“If we look at the real lap times, rather than just simply looking at positions P1/P2, then we see that every driver of the fastest four teams was in condition to actually lock the first position on the grid.”
