From the launch of the MCL60, new team principal Andrea Stella played down expectations and stressed the need to be “realistic” after off-season development targets were missed.
A key update package was ushered in for round four in Azerbaijan, with the revised floor and rear wing said to mark the specification in which the car should have started the year.
Stella now reckons that nearly every aerodynamic surface will be overhauled again as part of a quickfire three-stage update arriving over the Austria, British and Hungarian Grand Prix weekends.
It is expected that approximately half of the overall update will arrive for the coming Red Bull Ring round while the rest will be split between Silverstone and Budapest.
Stella said: “Most of the upgrades we will see over the course of the following events - so there will be a major overhaul of the car that will be delivered across Austria, UK and Hungary.”
This follows the Italian and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown completing a major winter review of the design department at Woking.
This led to technical chief James Key being ousted in favour of a three-pronged structure, while Ferrari head of vehicle concept David Sanchez was recruited.
Stella explained that the aggressive development path being pursued reflected a need for a “fundamental” redesign of the car that was identified after the early races of the campaign.
He continued: “At the start of the season, we realised that the car needed a fundamental redesign, so this redesign is actually interesting.
“I would say pretty much every single aerodynamic part [will change] - that's why the upgrades will be spread over the course of a few races. It will be decently 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 pretty much the entire car.”
Stella added that the upgrades had not yet been tested in the simulator but that they would increase downforce. He expects “a few tenths of a second of lap time improvement”.
Given the extent of the changes, sixth-placed constructor McLaren reckons the upgrades mark a “milestone in terms of possibly turning around the season”.
Stella added: “I'm banking on this package, but across the pretty much three races in which we will introduce it, these should be a few tenths of a second - it will be noticeable from a lap time point of view.”
