How did McLaren become the sensation of the F1 weekend? Even Max Verstappen boasted: “Very impressive”

The McLaren drivers enjoyed the upgrade parts for their cars and gave the home crowd something to celebrate at the Silverstone track, even if they didn’t get on the top podium.

If you only look at the top names of the Formula Ones after the Great Britain GP, ​​it would seem that everything is the same as before this season.

Max Verstappen was superior in his Red Bull at Silverstone. The Dutchman drove to his sixth consecutive victory in the F1 season, his eighth overall this season. The other two races have been won by another Red Bull driver Sergio Perez.

Verstappen continues to dominate the series, and the team he represents has never missed a GP win this season.

In Silverstone, however, the rise of the McLarens was seen to the delight of the British public. McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri first drove second and third in qualifying on Saturday. In the Grand Prix, the joy of the team continued, when Norris, who drove excellently, drove again to second place and the 22-year-old Australian driver Piastri took the best position of his career, being fourth in the race.

The most impressive part of the race was that the McLarens were able to briefly challenge Verstappen and his considered superior car at the beginning. What was even more impressive than before was that the British team’s cars held Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and of George Russell tightly behind him. In the end, Hamilton moved up to third, while Russell was fifth.

McLaren’s change from before was clear. It also drew praise from reigning world champion Verstappen over the weekend.

– The result was great for them, it’s great to see them so high. When you look at where they have started their development this season, the change from before has been very impressive, Verstappen beamed after the qualifying sessions, among other things According to the PlanetF1 website.

The car’s development brings a challenge to others in the “fight for second place”

McLaren’s car was the slowest in the season’s opening race in Bahrain. Norris then drove to 17th place, Piastri stopped.

The biggest reason for the change has been the updates McLaren made to their car. With the updates introduced during the last three races, the track has seen cars going wildly at full speed, especially on the straights, which Hamilton praised as “space rockets” after the British GP. The same description was also used by Piastri, who was driving one of the cars.

According to an analysis by Fox Sports McLaren’s MCL60 car lost in Silverstone to Red Bull’s RB19 model, which brought a huge difference, in only two areas. At the end of the straights, where the DRS system of the Red Bull cars gave an advantage, and in the slowest part of the track at the Vale chicane.

Of the driver duo, only Norris has already received it all of the updates made in three parts. Piastri still had to get by in Britain without a completely redesigned front wing.

Judging by statistics, McLaren’s car has become more efficient as its grip has improved. Team manager Andrea Stella has said that he believes that almost every aerodynamic part of his team’s car will experience a change.

At the same time, McLaren’s development and its possible continuation bring a challenge to the “fight for second place” behind Red Bull, which has overwhelmingly passed. Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari could have a new challenger in their battle for the second best team spot. Mercedes’ Russell also referred to this at the weekend.

– Many times on race weekends, you can see that the team drives well on the second day (time trials), but freezes on Sunday. I don’t think we will see something similar with the McLarens, he commented on Saturday.