Why McLaren's upgrade boost is seen as an inspiration by midfield contender's team principal

McLaren's mid-season upgrade boost is seen as an inspiration by Haas team principal Guenther Steiner as it shows what is possible. The Woking-based squad has taken the entire F1 community by storm with its mid-season upgrade that completely transformed its season. The team was not even a regular points contender at the start of the season.

Both McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, struggled to bag points with regularity. The team's mid-season upgrade has, however, changed everything and McLaren is now a frontrunner. Before the race weekend in Spa, the team had two consecutive P2 finishes in Grand Prix races. And Steiner feels that McLaren's rise should be looked at as a source of motivation.

Talking about McLaren's rise and how he's communicating with his team about the same, the Haas team principal told media, including PlanetF1.com:

“Yeah, I just told them and now they’re looking at them and we’ll be like McLaren next week! We spoke about that in a positive way. That is, if you take the positives out, obviously we are not doing what McLaren is doing. A lot of teams are making upgrades and are still where they are."

“McLaren have done a very good job, you have to compliment people like this. But it shows you that, with the right, good work and a little bit of luck, it can be done. It’s not a thing that you say ‘I give up now’ and never get there. It has been done. And if something has been done, you can try to do that. We shouldn’t say ‘Oh, it is not possible’, because, then, we stay where we are. It is possible, and there is proof that it is possible,” Guenther Steiner added.

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McLaren's rise is not a source of pressure for Haas engineers

Guenther Steiner further explained McLaren's rise has not put Haas' engineers under pressure. On the contrary, it is looked at as a source of motivation for what can be achieved in the sport.

“I don’t think it’s pressure, it’s motivation. It’s not like putting pressure, saying ‘You need to do this this way’, that is too easy. But I think it’s motivation for people to show them that somebody did that, which means you can do it as well. How many times have you seen such a big step? Very few in the last 20 years, with an upgrade making such a big leap," he elaborated.

“There can be light at the end of the tunnel, this is not pressure – this is the opposite of pressure, saying, ‘Guys, you can do this as well,’” Steiner added.

Haas has not had the best season in 2023. Although the car works great in qualifying and has been used aptly by Nico Hulkenberg, the race pace has been disappointing.

Haas will be hoping to make better progress with upgrades that help the team grow.