McLaren's next major upgrade package will be unveiled between Austria and Britain in what will result in a "noticeably different" Formula 1 car, says team principal Andrea Stella.
Following a difficult start to 2023, McLaren admitted it had not hit all of its pre-season targets with the MCL60, leading to its decision to create a specific upgrade plan to the rest of the year.
The first of these updates arrived in Baku, but despite a clear step forward in performance, the car was still lacking in areas compared to rivals.
There remains a high level of optimism within the Woking-based outfit as earlier in the year it revealed the biggest upgrade package, set to be introduced before the summer break, would be a "kind of B-spec car".
The new parts are now ready to be rolled out with McLaren aiming to have them on the car at either the Austrian or British Grand Prix in July, in what will be a foundation for the development of its 2024 challenger.
"The plan is we need to get the car more competitive. We've now released the package which should be available between Austria and Britain, and this is what should take the car to a more competitive level," Stella said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.
"It's progressing the car, evolving concepts we see as successful. It will be noticeably different to what we have at the moment.
"It will be the foundation for future developments next year. For the second part of the season there should be another major upgrade."
McLaren bounced back from a difficult weekend in Miami to have both of its drivers finish in the points in Monaco, with Lando Norris coming home in ninth ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Stella remains cautious about McLaren's chances of repeating its Monaco result at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, but hopes the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya's high-speed corners suit the current-spec MCL60.
Asked if McLaren is having to rely on executing its weekends perfectly to score points, he replied: "You can have high-quality execution but on tracks where you can overtake, ultimately you need the pace.
"Let's see. Hopefully Spain, with some high-speed corners, suits our car better. But we know we need to improve aerodynamic efficiency and that's what will happen in a couple of races."