McLaren plan new floor upgrade in warning shot to F1 rivals

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed they plan to introduce a new floor upgrade to consolidate their position as F1’s top team.

McLaren are running away with both F1 championships.

Ahead of next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, McLaren are 238 points ahead of Ferrari in the race for the constructors’ championship.

Max Verstappen is in third place and behind the two McLaren drivers.

However, the Dutchman is 69 points off the pace after just 12 rounds.

McLaren tested a new floor development at the British Grand Prix, which they plan to introduce in the “upcoming events”.

Given that the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps is a sprint weekend, it’s unlikely they will use it, as there is just one practice session.

“With the new floor in FP1, the plan was always going to be that the floor was a test floor,” Stella said.

“[We got an] early read of this new specification, because the next race is a sprint event where it is more difficult to introduce a new specification, and make proper comparisons.

“We are actually pretty pleased with what we have seen in FP1. All the indications are leading us to introduce this new floor at upcoming events.”

McLaren can’t “drop the ball”

While McLaren have enjoyed a dominant campaign so far, they were beaten to the win at the Canadian GP last month.

George Russell won the race from pole position and neither McLaren driver finished on the podium.

Stella stressed that winning isn’t something you can take for granted and that you have to “earn it”.

“The performance we saw in Canada, that as soon as you drop the ball, you don’t win anymore,” Stella said in an event in London.

“So winning is not given for granted. Winning is something that you have to earn. You have to earn it in terms of preparation, you have to earn it on the ground.

“Well, the next strategy is to keep doing what we are doing.

“Which is not only in terms of trying to achieve the same results but also have the same determination we need to maximise the potential of what’s available.

“The mission for the second part of the season is to go try and do our best to try to maximise our potential and keep winning races, keep giving our fans plenty of emotions.”