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WOKING, England (AP) — Twelve months ago, McLaren faced a lot of unknowns.
The modest Andrea Stella, recently appointed boss of McLaren Formula 1, at team pace is betting on catching up. If progression targets were not reached during the winter, the car would not be competitive. Points, not podiums, would be a success.
That left Lando Norris, their young star driver, preparing for a tricky start to the year alongside rookie Oscar Piastri. After being embroiled in a bitter contract saga until the summer of 2022, Piastri arrived in F1 with everything to prove. at the car’s launch last year via a comedy host, as “Oscar Pistari” wasn’t in the position to start while helping Norris lift the hood of the car.
How have they changed?
In his teaser video on Wednesday, McLaren recalled where he was a year ago. A video has made apocalyptic headlines about the supposed disruptions that will occur until 2023, as a narrator asks: “Have you ever been excluded before you even start?”
– McLaren (@McLarenF1) January 15, 2024
There was reason to be skeptical of McLaren’s chances in early 2023, and it rang true on-track as it averaged two points per race through the early part of the year. But then it changed its narrative. The first major upgrade that arrived in Austria at the end of June transformed the car, and with it, the team’s fortunes. McLaren ended last year in the thick of the fight to be second-quickest, outscoring every team except Red Bull from Austria onwards, even putting up the occasional challenge to Max Verstappen’s dominance. It finished fourth in the constructors’ championship, up from fifth in 2022.
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And in 2024, McLaren kicked off the launch season with another “win,” becoming the first team to unveil its livery for this year on Tuesday, weeks before its rivals even glimpsed its new designs. Although the genuine MCL38 car possibly won’t be revealed until February 14, minor updates to the papaya and black color scheme recommend a message of continuity.
The momentum lies with McLaren, and it shows no sign of letting up. It makes it a team to watch in the chase to catch Red Bull in 2024.
Ending one season on a high note does not guarantee that this trajectory will continue at the beginning of the next. As groups attempt to achieve any and all marginal gains imaginable under those technical regulations, which are now entering their third year, achieving a progression limit is a very genuine concern.
Yet McLaren sees plenty of room for growth. In a stark contrast to his bleak yet honest assessment going into 2023, Stella said McLaren’s preparations for the coming season had been “relatively smooth” and the team was “on plan” six weeks out from the opening race.
More extensive preparatory paintings are currently being made in Woking. The MCL38 car was developed with the new wind tunnel and new on-site simulator, two vital infrastructure advancements that have been in the works for years. The team also benefited from the arrival of Ferrari. Red Bull’s David Sanchez and Rob Marshall, two senior executives on its technical team. Red Bull boss Christian Horner joked last year that McLaren had spent more than part of its budget cap to sign Marshall, such was his importance.
The progression trajectory McLaren enjoyed last year with its major upgrades in Austria and Singapore showed no signs of slowing down, according to Stella. “It looks like we can pull it off,” he said. That’s where I would expect the launch car to be at the start of the season. ” An early season update package is also in the works. ” It turns out that the linear progression gradient can be edited. “
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Such optimism is based on more than a feeling. Stella said the numbers relating to the efficiency, downforce levels and drag of the car were far from the “period of plateauing” experienced going into 2023 which sparked such a big direction change. There’s no suggestion of the diminishing returns Red Bull claims to have encountered with its car going into this new season.
Zak Brown, McLaren’s CEO, expressed real confidence going into the new season, hailing a “fantastic job” by the team through the winter that he was sure could be sustained.
“It’s going to be an ongoing development,” Brown said. We’re not done, we’re just done with our launch car. But let’s expect steady improvements throughout the year. “
McLaren’s huge rise would not have been imaginable without Norris and Piastri, who, in their first season together, argued that they were one of the most powerful teammate duos on the grid or, if you ask Brown, the most powerful. of their performances gave McLaren confidence that they were getting the most out of the car week in and week out, something that not every single team can say.
Stella felt the relationship between Norris and Piastri was “a point of strength” for McLaren, noting how they compared data and work together right from opening practice. After comfortably outclassing Daniel Ricciardo in their two years together, Norris now has a teammate fighting him every weekend.
The year has not been without stressful moments. Norris and Piastri touched at Monza, and team orders had to be implemented at several races, especially at Suzuka, to prevent them from tripping over each other. If Piastri, now a second-year F1 student, were to defeat presumed team leader Norris to take his first win this year, would that pose a headache for McLaren?Stella didn’t see it that way.
“It would be a result considering what we saw last year with Red Bull, where there wasn’t a lot of room for everyone,” Stella said. “If we had a win at Osautomobile, it would be a thrill. It would be a thrill for Lando and that means we have a car capable of winning races.
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“If I looked at Lando’s head for a second, I think he would recognize that he is a fair competitor. He is a very fair person. He would ask himself, ‘What do I do best?’ The same thing that Oscar could do. “
Not only can a competitive car give him a full season as the overall leader for the first time, but with his contract expiring at the end of 2025 and the prospect of a fluid driving market, his future will be a recurring question. Especially when it comes to a Red Bull seat next to Verstappen.
Brown said McLaren was in talks with Norris “on an ongoing basis” about the long term and that it was a “high priority” to retain any of the drivers for the long term, but said it was up to the team to supply Norris. with the most productive environment imaginable to achieve your F1 dreams.
“I’m very confident in the appointments we have with Lando,” Brown said. “I know he’s very excited for this year and he’s very inspired by what was noticed in the second half of last year.
“All we want to do is continue to provide him with the environment he needs and I’m sure he’ll stay. “
The fact that McLaren is even in a position where it can talk about the option of winning races is a testament to its recovery. Turning that into reality is a much trickier task, especially given Red Bull’s dominance last year.
While Horner would have played down the chances of a repeat of the season at Red Bull, bringing up the reduced returns of the RB20’s development, Stella is cautious. Given that Red Bull’s merit last year was so great, he noted that the company may also simply have more resources and focus on the 2024 car, which “puts everyone in doubt” about what could happen this year.
“The question is: Have they benefited and accumulated advances that they can capitalize on (this) year’s car?” said Stella. That’s my theory. “
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Brown added that Red Bull could spring an “unpleasant surprise for all of us” with its pocketed development for 2024.
Catching Red Bull might be the goal, but McLaren’s resurgence through 2023 has been fueled by a focus on itself rather than the competition. It’s a mantra Stella has maintained in this less turbulent offseason.
“It’s important that we are doing a good job out of our own performance development,” Stella said. “We are confident that if we keep doing this over time, we have an opportunity to close the gap.
“This is our vision for the future,” he added. The wait?” He continued to laugh, knowing that despite all the positive and positive platitudes of the moment, the answers will only come at the first race in Bahrain.
(Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris main: Clive Rose/Getty Images)