McLaren was a resurgent team in 2023, but CEO Zak Brown insists there are more results to look forward to in 2024. Given the last six months, this expectation seems fairly realistic.
It is easy to forget how poorly McLaren began this year’s campaign. Reliability issues hampered their pre-season testing, whilst the first few rounds confirmed the MCL60’s below-par (albeit not catastrophic) pace.
This wasn’t a shock, given that Andrea Stella said at the MCL60 launch that the start of the year would be difficult. However, the McLaren team principal remained confident that mid-season development would rectify the team’s performance.
At the time, it was unclear how impactful these updates would be. A small improvement was made in Baku, but the British outfit was definitely a midfield team for the first 1/3 of the year.
All this changed in Austria, where Lando Norris showed the first flashes of potential from Woking. The team went from strength to strength, eventually surpassing Aston Martin for P4 in the standings.
Next season, Andrea Stella’s personnel face greater expectations. They cannot afford another slow start – as they receive heightened scrutiny.
Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren MCL60 quickest in Sprint Shootout.
07.10.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 18, Qatar Grand Prix, Doha, Qatar, Sprint Day.
– www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com © Copyright: Batchelor / XPB Images
According to CEO Zak Brown, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic:
“We have plenty to look forward to, both in 2024 and in the years ahead.
“Significant recent investments in our infrastructure, including a new wind tunnel, a next-generation simulator and an upgraded manufacturing unit, will help accelerate our journey back to the front.
“Plus, we have new senior personnel starting with us in January, Rob Marshall and David Sanchez, who, combined with our already awesome team, should ensure we start 2024 on the front foot.”
In some ways, McLaren is slightly ahead of schedule in terms of their development. Whilst they are investing heavily, much of their latest infrastructure won’t be fully integrated until 2024 or even later.
From this perspective, they deserve praise for giving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri such strong machinery.
However, question marks still hover over the Woking-based outfit. As a customer team, there are doubts they can realistically challenge the reigning Champions consistently.
In a similar fashion to this year, McLaren must once again break barriers and defy expectations in 2024.
