McLaren arrives at the Hungarian Grand Prix with one of its most significant upgrade packages of the season, but Lando Norris prefers to remain cautious about the benefits it might bring.
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While the reigning world champion believes that these new features have the potential to bring the team closer to the front, he is waiting to see the first results on track before getting carried away.
The Woking-based team has brought several major upgrades to Budapest, including a new floor, various aerodynamic modifications, and the highly anticipated first appearance of its rear wing dubbed “Macarena”, which will be evaluated during free practice.
« We want to be optimistic »
Despite McLaren’s reputation for development, Norris acknowledges that not all the new features introduced this season have produced the desired effects: « We probably still have the best overall package between the chassis and the powertrain. We were optimistic before Spa and we are also optimistic for this weekend. »
Third in FP2, the McLaren driver nevertheless insists on the need to remain measured: « We have to wait and see what these upgrades deliver. We want to be optimistic and hope they will solve some of the problems currently limiting us. »
He reminds that several upgrades introduced since the start of the season have not immediately met the team’s expectations: « Some upgrades may not have worked exactly as we hoped. So we are a little more cautious this time and we want to verify that they actually produce the expected effects. »
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If that is the case, Norris is convinced that McLaren will take a step forward: « If they work as expected, they should bring us a real performance gain. »
The Hungaroring, a favorable circuit for McLaren
The Briton also believes that the characteristics of the Hungaroring traditionally match McLaren’s strengths: « It’s a circuit where we have often performed well in the past. I hope that the combination of this track and our new parts will allow us to have a good weekend. »
His teammate Oscar Piastri also displays cautious optimism. The Australian believes that the new package could allow McLaren to get closer to Ferrari and Mercedes.
« We will know tomorrow in qualifying, but I think we should be a bit more competitive, he estimates. We have several upgrades this weekend and I hope they will allow us to fight more at the front. »
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