Despite the landmark shift in ground-effect design rules for 2022, last season’s MCL36 still suffers from the same mid-corner handling unpredictability as its 2021 predecessor.

Lando Norris has since made the same complaint about the current MCL60, while team boss Andrea Stella has said the car is weakest in low-grip conditions and when the driver lets off the accelerator and brakes.

As these deficiencies have survived major rule changes, McLaren suspects its design problems stem from the failure of its methodology and upcoming wind tunnel to recreate accurate real-world conditions.

Asked why the McLaren car was repeatedly suffering from underhandling, Stella – who also pointed to the car’s excessive drag – explained: “I have to say, the pattern doesn’t seem to have changed.

“I know we’ve talked in some of the conversations before that it’s more about aerodynamic efficiency. It’s true because if you look at the times we lose on the straights, we do lose because of drag.

“In general, if you increase the load without changing the characteristics, you will go faster.

“However, in these advantages of higher overall load and less drag, this mode may be related to the infrastructure that we are improving, the conditions on the track are very challenging because you are in the curvature, you can’t simulate wind tunnels correct.

Construction of a new wind tunnel and simulator in Woking is nearing its expected June completion, and Stella previously said he could hear it being tested from his office.

McLaren MCL60 driver Lando Norris leads his mechanics on stage

Photograph: Sam Bloxham / motorsport pictures

In recent years, the team has had to rent Toyota’s wind tunnel facility in Cologne, which has included shipping new parts to Germany in the back of a van.

Stella hopes that the infrastructure upgrade will make it clear to McLaren whether its approach is lacking in a solution to the ‘DNA’ problem.

He continued: “Of course, with the wind tunnel we use, it is more difficult than other facilities, and it will become easier and more representative in the wind tunnel we have available in the short term.

“It’s because you have better performance, for example, due to adaptive walls in the wind tunnel that the car sees on the track.

“So, it’s possible that what you’re talking about with DNA has to do with some of the limitations of the methods we’ve used over the years, and somehow, despite the regulatory changes, they still seem to be leading. The same operating point.

“So once we compare what we’re seeing in the (McLaren Technology Center) wind tunnel with the wind tunnel we’ve been using for the past two years, we’ll know more in a few months.”