• German Grand Prix

'Noticeable' updates for McLaren

The MP4-27's sidepods will be "quite different" at Hockenheim © Press Association

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• Race:
• German Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Martin Whitmarsh

• Teams:
• McLaren

McLaren will have "reasonably noticeable" updates at the German Grand Prix, with team principal Martin Whitmarsh describing the sidepods as "quite different".

Having been off the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari in Valencia and Silverstone, McLaren plans to run a significantly updated car this weekend at Hockenheim. Speaking during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in, Whitmarsh was asked about the new parts and said that the main area of modification that would be visible was around the sidepods.

"The sidepods from the front to the rear are quite different, so you'll notice those," Whitmarsh said. "There are other bits and pieces that the sharper eyes will see, and clearly there are some parts that are transparent to the naked eye. That's the main area of modifications and it's reasonably noticeable."

Whitmarsh also said that McLaren's main focus remained on improving the car and understanding the Pirelli tyres.

"As you know Formula One changes very quickly and your fortunes can change from being very, very strong in Canada - which we clearly were - to a disappointing couple of last races. I think they were unusual; particularly Silverstone was an unusual weekend. Our thrust is always to keep developing the car, we've got quite a lot of new components and quite noticeable ones on the car that we will have in Germany.

"I think for everyone - not just McLaren - trying to understand and exploit the tyres correctly is proving quite a substantial challenge. So I think keeping ourselves focused, seeking to eliminate mistakes, improving the performance of the car, understanding the tyres and seeing if we can exploit them better are all top of our to do list."

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