McLaren to introduce latest Mercedes power unit spec amid fresh upgrades

The Woking-based team is looking to bounce back after failing to match Mercedes and Ferrari in the opening part of the season. While the car has occasionally shown flashes of real potential, it has lacked the consistent performance of the frontrunners.

Ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, McLaren's Technical Director of Applied Engineering, Neil Houldey, explained that the team has completed extensive simulation work in preparation for what is expected to be a particularly demanding weekend from an energy management perspective.

He also confirmed that the MCL40 will debut a new rear wing assembly at Spa, describing it as part of the team's planned development programme and expressing confidence that it will deliver a modest performance gain. At the same time, Houldey admitted the team is keeping its expectations in check after a difficult British Grand Prix, particularly in terms of outright pace, stressing that the latest upgrades are not expected to bring a significant step forward in competitiveness.

Houldey also highlighted the unique challenges Spa is expected to present, describing it as one of the most energy-limited circuits on the Formula 1 calendar. As a result, McLaren is anticipating a significant amount of super clip, creating an extra challenge for both the car and its drivers. He also pointed to the uncertain weather forecast, noting that while wet conditions would make the weekend even more demanding, they could also provide a valuable opportunity to better understand the MCL40's behaviour in low-grip conditions and gather useful data for the remainder of the season.

Andrea Stella has confirmed that McLaren's development programme will continue across Formula 1's summer break, with the team planning to introduce upgrades both before and after the shutdown in an effort to reduce the gap to championship leaders Mercedes.

The McLaren team principal explained that the current roadmap includes one package in the short term, before the summer break following the Hungarian Grand Prix, and another in the period immediately afterwards. The updates form part of the team's ongoing development strategy as it looks to improve the competitiveness of the MCL40 during the second half of the season.

Stella believes those upgrades should allow McLaren to make gradual progress and move closer to the front of the field. At the same time, he acknowledged that achieving that objective will also depend on Mercedes and the other leading teams not continuing to pull further away in the championship while McLaren works to unlock more performance from its car.