Why Lando Norris is being cautious about McLaren’s latest F1 upgrade at Hungarian GP

Lando Norris has urged caution surrounding McLaren’s upgrade package at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. 

McLaren is set to unleash a significant upgrade to its MCL40 car in Budapest as it looks to improve its competitiveness at a crucial stage of the season heading into F1’s summer break. 

As part of the package, McLaren will finally trial its own ‘Macarena’ rear wing design that was meant to debut in Austria, as well as testing further aerodynamic elements during Friday practice at the Hungaroring. 

While McLaren historically has a strong record when it comes to bringing performance via upgrades, Norris remains wary after a few teething issues with updates this season. 

“We have probably still the best complete power unit package. We were hopeful for a good weekend in Spa, and hopeful that it can be a good weekend here,” the reigning world champion told reporters in Budapest. 

“Just wait and see on the upgrade. We want to be optimistic about it. We want to be confident and and hope that it fixes some of our issues that we're currently struggling with and are limiting us. 

“There's been a few upgrades this year that have maybe not worked exactly as we would have hoped, so I think we're just being a little bit more cautious on waiting to see if it works exactly as as we expect. 

“If it does, then I think it certainly should give us a good boost and add a good amount of performance to the car. 

“It's a track that we've typically performed well at in the past, so I'm hoping as a combination, it's a good track for us. Hoping that we can have a good weekend, so I’m look forward to it.” 

McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri is hopeful the upgrade, which is built around a redesigned floor, will be a decent step forward for the team. 

“We’ll find out tomorrow. I think we should be a bit more competitive,” the Australian said. 

"We’ve got a few upgrades this weekend, so hopefully that puts us a bit closer to being able to fight. 

“I think at Spa, certainly in the race, we were probably a bit more competitive than we expected, so that was a good thing.”

Speaking in McLaren’s event preview, senior director of racing Randy Singh said: "We have an upgrade package arriving this weekend, and in such a competitive season every development is important so it will be great to gather further understanding on how those parts perform throughout free practice.
 
“Our aim is to maximise everything we have available, carry positive momentum into the shutdown and put ourselves in the strongest possible position for the second half of the championship.”