Why Mclaren is introducing its new package at Paul-Ricard

For the time being, McLaren holds on. As surprising as this may seem given the difficulties at the start of the season and those more lasting in Daniel Ricciardo, the Woking team is still clinging to its fourth place in the constructors' standings. However, Alpine closed its gap to the point of returning to equality (81 pts) in Austria. The curves seem to be reversing. It was therefore time for McLaren to go on the offensive and bring a new slew of “upgrades” as they are called in English.

The MCL36 is clearly dressed from head to toe: a new rear wing for reliability reasons, new sidepods and mirrors, a revisited cooling system adapted to the new bodywork, a reworked flat bottom with a brand new diffuser, and finally a modification of the brake ducts. The list is long ! “The aim is obviously to increase the overall aerodynamic downforce of the car, confided Andreas Seidl in the Castellet paddock. Our priority is to make sure the package takes well here. We hope that it will allow us to fight with our direct competitors for 4th place. »

Is this the last big development of the season? 

In Free Practice 1, only Daniel Ricciardo's car was equipped with the new improvements, so that the program carried out by the Australian could be compared to the old package left on the car de Lando Norris. Without knowing if the times are really comparable, the Briton drove 4 tenths faster than his teammate, before the mechanics fitted the improvements to his car for FP2. It is quite interesting to note the difference in strategy between Alpine and McLaren regarding updates. The French manufacturer indeed has a progressive approach, and tries to bring new parts to almost every race, while McLaren brings them less often but more consistently.

Lando Norris has worn McLaren since the start of the season. © Julien Delfosse / DPPI

So, why did you choose the round of the French Grand Prix to bring about its crucial second big development of the season? “We preferred to wait to be sure we got value for our money, explains Andreas Seidl. We must ensure, in these times of budget cap, that the gain on track is equal to the financial investment. We therefore chose this race for timing reasons. » As for the possibility of a third big change made in the second half of the season, Seidl is not committing to anything. “We will see in terms of competitiveness where we are with this new package. This will probably determine during the second half of the season when we will spend all our resources exclusively on next year's car.

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