McLaren strengthened their position as the best of the rest, behind Formula 1’s big three teams, as they took their second successive double points score in Austria – and Carlos Sainz reckons their upturn in form is down to them maximising the upgrade package first introduced in Spain…

Bringing developments that deliver consistent on-track performance has been a weakness for McLaren for several years now, but there have been signs this year that they have started to remedy the situation.

In France, McLaren scored points with both Sainz and Lando Norris – and they repeated the feat in Austria, with Norris starting fifth on the grid and ending up sixth while Sainz produced a stunning fightback from last to finish eighth.

McLaren are now fourth in the constructors’ championship, extending their lead over Renault to 20 points.

“We introduced an upgrade in Spain which looks to be starting to pay off,” said Sainz. “The first two race weekends [that we ran the upgrade] in Monaco and Canada, maybe because of the nature of the tracks we couldn't feel it as much as we are starting to feel it now. It's paying off and paying off and we are understanding the car and being faster every weekend. The car in high speed is starting to perform very well.”