McLaren produced a shock performance in last weekend’s British Grand Prix as Lando Norris secured a spot on the front row and then emerged as Max Verstappen’s main threat in the race to come home in second.
But the way he was able to hold off Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race, despite being on slower hard compound tyres, left many rivals impressed about the amount of progress McLaren has made with its car since new parts were added at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.
And having made a significant leap since the start of the season, after McLaren started the year on the backfoot with potentially the slowest car, its opposition are now eager to find answers about how it has achieved it.
Mercedes technical director James Allison has revealed that his squad is now paying special attention to exactly what McLaren did to its car in a bid to try to understand how the changes delivered such a step.
Speaking in Mercedes’ regular post-race video debrief, Allison said McLaren’s upgrades would be put under his team’s spotlight far more than it normally does.
“We keep an eye on all the teams as they upgrade,” explained Allison. “We take lots of photos and we try and figure out what changes from race to race.
“We note when something new or unusual comes along and the interesting and unusual thing about the McLaren upgrade is that its lap time effect is quite strong. It's unusual to have a step of that size of relative competitiveness in the middle of a season and chapeau to them.
Source: Autosport