McLaren team boss Andrea Stella says a three-step upgrade plan for its MCL60 will see a sort of B-spec version of its 2023 design hit the track by mid-summer.

From the outset, Stella hasn’t been happy with the status of team papaya’s MCL-60, the Italian suggesting at the team’s presentation back in February that the car’s development should have been further along than where it was.

The first two races of the season have come and gone without McLaren earning any points, shortfall due to a blend of underperformance and lack of reliability.

Meanwhile, back at its base in Woking, the team’s engineering department has undergone a significant shake-up, with technical director James Key leaving the outfit and a new structure being put in place that will include former Ferrari engineer David Sanchez.

©McLaren

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, Stella shed light on McLaren’s comprehensive development programme that will hopefully pull the team up the grid and back among F1’s top four by the end of the season.

“The improvement of car performance should start in Baku,” Stella explained.

“The improvement in Baku should affect an area of the car that I think has been clear from the presentation of the car, we weren’t entirely happy with in terms of development. It’s just the first step.

“We would expect definitely another major upgrade, which will address more areas of the car. It will be much more apparent, it’s what somebody may call kind of a B-spec car.

“And then we expect to have a further round of upgrades in the second part of the season after the shutdown.

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“So we have three main steps: Baku, later on – I don’t want to commit to any date, but before shutdown – and then after shutdown.

“We hope that each of them will be able to provide a few tenths of a second, so that we put ourselves in a more realistic position to meet our ambition to become a top four car towards the end of the season.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella