The British Formula 1 team McLaren presented its new single-seater, the MLC38, on Wednesday, promising a car which incorporates “innovations” and which will be improved quickly.
“There are a number of innovations on the car but not all the areas we wanted to improve have yet been improved for our launch car. We are now focusing on these sectors to include them in the developments that will happen during the season and on which we are already working,” explained Andrea Stella, director of the team based in Woking (England).
Without going into too much detail, like a minimal presentation where the new single-seater was barely shown, the Italian engineer clarified the aspects that the team had targeted this winter.
“The three main areas of development for the car were to improve aerodynamic efficiency, downforce and interaction with the tires. I can tell you that we have been able to improve in these three areas, although there is still room to progress in each of them,” he said.
The British team is much more confident than a year ago, when Stella had just arrived and presented a car that boded badly for the season. McLaren had indeed experienced a very difficult first few months, scoring only 17 points in the first eight Grands Prix.
But the changes made from the Austrian GP at the beginning of July, then in Singapore in September, allowed the team to raise the bar in spectacular fashion and finish fourth in the constructors’ standings with 302 points.
McLaren, which had been the second force in the field behind Red Bull in the second half of the season, hopes to be able to reduce the gap with the Austrian team, which crushed the competition last year by winning 21 of the 22 Grands Prix .
“We demonstrated a very good ability to develop the car last year and we will try to consolidate that. If we maintain the same development capacity as shown in 2023, I think we can be in a good position. Will this be enough to embarrass Red Bull? we’ll see…” said Stella.
Lando Norris, six times second and once third in 2023, shares his boss’s analysis: “I’m confident, I think we can be in the fight with them, but it could take a little time,” said he declared.
“I can’t wait to test the car at the Bahrain test. I am confident that we can continue our momentum from last season,” underlined the Briton, who will begin his sixth season at McLaren, with whom he extended his contract for several years last month.
Same story with his Australian teammate Oscar Piastri, brilliant last year in his first season in Formula 1. “We are optimistic about being able to beat Red Bull, we were very close to doing so last year. last. But we must also be aware that the fight will be very intense with other competitors like Ferrari or Mercedes,” he added.
The F1 championship, which this year will include a record 24 Grands Prix, will resume on March 2 in Bahrain after three days of testing on the Gulf island (February 21-23).