McLaren reveal cautious approach to new F1 floor upgrade: ‘We might have some doubts’

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella has revealed they’ve been deliberately cautious when deciding when and which upgrades they introduce to their car in 2024.

McLaren have enjoyed a remarkable rate of development since the middle of last year, progressing from the back of the grid to title contender.

On balance, they’ve been the fastest team in 2024, and on course for their first F1 constructors’ title since 1998.

McLaren have been selective with their upgrades, introducing a significant package in Miami.

Since then, McLaren have been selective in terms of which new parts are added to the car, bringing another upgrade to Zandvoort.

Speaking after the race at Monza, where Crash.net were present in the paddock, Stella explained why McLaren have been reluctant to introduce their new floor to the car.

“We haven’t brought a significant upgrade since Miami,” Stella said. “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.”

McLaren were once again the fastest team at Monza but failed to take the win as they were out-foxed by Ferrari on strategy.

Stella feels though the pecking order is doing to which driver can “nail the grip available” rather than one team having a dominant package.

“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 added.

“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.”