F1 teams are always mindful of hiding key details of their new cars ahead to prevent key secrets from spilling over to their rivals. And it seems like McLaren has gone a step ahead in preserving their secrets on the MCL60.
From long camera shots to avoiding certain profiles, F1 teams have tried all the tricks in the book to avoid key elements from being leaked. But none have taken a drastic step like the Woking-based team.
McLaren straight blurred out the floor of their MCL60. And the added secrecy makes it wonder if the team have cracked the code and is stepping up for a major challenge in 2023.
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Why McLaren Blurred out the Floor of MCL60
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took the MCL60 for a spin at the Bahrain International Circuit 3 days before F1’s Pre-season testing. The duo tested while McLaren completed their filming day.
According to rules, a team can cover up to 100 KMs on their new car before the official testing as a part of their promotional duties. But a lot of secrecy was looming over the 2023 car’s floor design.
McLaren blurring out the floor details in their promotional video is seriously interesting, will be paying special attention to this area during testing.#F12023 #F1pic.twitter.com/MR5QRun1Jp
— Bryson Sullivan 🇺🇲 (@NaturalParadigm) February 21, 2023
McLaren’s footage from their filming day shows the team blurring out the floors extensively. And it seems like the team were trying to guard against major improvements made ahead of the car’s official debut.
The floors and sidepods of other teams’ cars regularly come under scrutiny due to their significance in the aerodynamics of a car. Especially floors, which have been hit by a recent FIA regulation and will be raised by 15 mm compared to last year.
McLaren was tightly locked with Alpine in the fight for 4th place. And with Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri also involved in F1’s tight midfield battle, the team deliberately chose to blur crucial details to avoid spooking their rivals.
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Lando Norris happy with MCL60’s performance
McLaren successfully completed a demo run of the MCL60 without any hiccups. The team will be ready to give the 2023 car a proper shakedown in the Pre-season testing, which starts on Friday.
This time last year, McLaren had a troubled start to the season. Daniel Ricciardo could not test the car in Bahrain after testing positive for Covid-19. This put the burden on Lando Norris to clock lap times alone.
McLaren also had several reliability issues, allowing the Briton to set only 198 laps. However, Norris feels positive after his initial run on Tuesday.
First radio check in the #MCL60…
Loud and clear! 🔊 pic.twitter.com/UGlOK4QAUu
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 21, 2023
He commented, “I think it was a super important day for us, especially because we need to start this season off better than we did last year. So far we’ve done exactly that, so I’m happy.”
Norris will drive his fifth season with the team alongside debutant Oscar Piastri. He finished 7th in the standings last year with 122 points, 85 more than veteran Ricciardo.
