Breaking news
Formula 1
McLaren: Hungary result a "big boost" for remainder of 2019
McLaren says its strong performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix has given it a "big boost" for the second half of the season.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Aug 8, 2019, 1:20 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Woking-based outfit had headed to last weekend's race at the Hungaroring bracing itself for a tough time with the circuit's low-speed demands not ideal for the team's MCL34.
But the outfit exceeded expectations with a double points scoring finish, including a fifth spot for Carlos Sainz that helped it further strengthen its grip on fourth place in the constructors' championship.
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said that the progress shown, helped in part by a number of upgrades including a new high-downforce rear wing, helped lift confidence about the outfit's prospects at tracks coming up on the calendar.
"On a track with a lot of low speed corners, where we had definitely a weakness on the car, to see now that we could cure some of the issues with the updates we are bringing and understanding the car better and better and how to use it, it is obviously great to clearly have been the fourth quickest car," explained Seidl.
"It is now a big boost for us going into the break and also for the second half of the season, because we have some tracks coming up with low speed sections and so on. That is obviously very, very encouraging."
While Sainz was delighted with his second consecutive fifth placed finish in Hungary, he was eager not to read too much into McLaren's strengths in Hungary – because he felt other factors beyond the updates helped it.
"Maybe the Hungaroring has become a medium speed track with Formula 1 cars, because it feels really fast out there and that suits us a bit better than what we anticipated," said Sainz.
"And this kind of black tarmac, as we saw in Austria and Paul Ricard, new surfaces help our performance.
"This weekend we were decently surprised, but still we were lapped so that's another thing that we need to add to that, so we still have a lot of work to do."
Read Also:
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Gasly has "no clear answer" for Hungarian GP struggle
Next article F1 still has no better solution for oil spills - Masi
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Dec 28, 2024
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
McLaren
McLaren to upgrade MCL40 car at its bogey F1 track Las Vegas
Formula 1
Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
1 d
McLaren to upgrade MCL40 car at its bogey F1 track Las Vegas
Latest news
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
10 min
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Turkish GP
1 h
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 18 h
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 18 h
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe