McLaren team chief seeking car improvements

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is hoping his team’s aggressive approach to development will reap rewards over the next two weekends.

The disappointment in the wake of the British Grand Prix 11 days ago ran deep throughout the entire Woking-based organisation.

With drivers Lewis Hamilton eighth and Jenson Button 10th in the race classification, there was the realisation within McLaren that they had fallen alarmingly off the pace in comparison to their rivals in a short period of time given the former’s win in Canada early last month.

With back-to-back races looming at Hockenheim on Sunday and Budapest’s Hungaroring seven days later before the summer break, Whitmarsh knows his team must bridge the divide to the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull.

To that end, both cars this weekend in Germany will sport “a lot of quite noticeable updates”, according to Whitmarsh.

With Hamilton having fallen 37 points adrift in the championship standings behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso ahead of what will be his 100th grand prix, Whitmarsh said: “Formula One changes very quickly.

“Your fortunes can change from being very strong in Canada, which we clearly were, to a disappointing last couple of races.

“Silverstone was a difficult weekend for us, made better by observing at close-hand the depth of loyal support all around the circuit for Jenson, Lewis and the team.

“Indeed, it was heartening that, even after what was a disappointing result, their enthusiasm and support remained un-dimmed. They are a constant motivation for me, and for everybody at McLaren.

“There is now a huge resolve within the operation to ensure that our aggressive development strategy is upheld across the summer.

“We are determined to narrow the gap to the leaders in the world championship standings before the start of the summer break.”

With regard to the exact nature of the updates, Whitmarsh added: “The sidepods from the front to the rear are quite different, so you’ll notice those.

“There are other bits and pieces that the sharper-eyed will see, and clearly there are some parts which are hidden to the naked eye.”