Oscar Piastri knows McLaren is in a strong position in 2024 after the remarkable recovery they had last year. His optimism seems to have further increased after pre-season testing recently concluded in Bahrain as he cited how McLaren have all the resources they need to climb back to the top. However, he still feels they will require at least a year to get on terms with the likes of Red Bull.
Oscar Piastri cited that they have their new wind tunnel that finished work in mid-2023. On top of this, they have hired key engineering personnel from Red Bull and Ferrari. Still, given the champions from Milton Keynes have a substantial advantage, it is difficult for the Woking-based outfit to catch up with such a team so quickly.
The Aussie said (as quoted by Junaid), “These things don’t happen overnight. Rob [Marshall] and David [Sanchez] specifically have been at the team for a month, so we’re not going to find half a second or a second. In that timeframe, it’s going to take a year or more.”
Piastri: We’ve got all our latest hires, which will hopefully give an added boost to what was already a strong team. I think we still have work to do. These things don’t happen overnight. Rob and David specifically have been at the team for a month, so we’re not going to…
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) February 24, 2024
The ambitious wind tunnel project of McLaren has been in the making for a long time. It finally got ready last season and the team’s 2025 car will be fully built using the state-of-the-art wind tunnel. Before this, McLaren was using the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne.
For now, the team from Woking seems fairly placed in the fight for P2 in 2024. While the pre-season test went well for them, they had some minor issues that restricted their running. So, McLaren will most likely once again rely on in-season upgrades like last year if they are to fight the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin for P2 in the championship.
McLaren has poached some top engineers from Red Bull and Ferrari
McLaren poached two key men from Red Bull and Ferrari respectively. Rob Marshall is coming from the Austrian team as the technical director of their engineering design. Meanwhile, David Sanchez is coming from Ferrari as the head of their overall car concept.
These two will be part of McLaren’s three-pronged structure handling their overall technical development. They will join Peter Prodomou who handles the team’s in-season development aspects.
Sanchez will look at more of the future aspects of their car concept for 2025 and 2026. Meanwhile, Marshall oversees the execution of both Sanchez and Prodomou’s ideas.
Moreover, Marshall’s previous experience of working with Adrian Newey may also come in handy. The knowledge and insights from a championship-winning team are something McLaren will want right now if they are to fight for the title in the future.
Aston Martin seem to be the perfect example of how a former Red Bull engineer has turned the fortunes around of a team. Dan Fallows, who was Newey’s right-hand man at Red Bull, went to the Silverstone team in mid-2022.
Following Fallows’ arrival, Aston Martin made a huge step forward last season as they were at times also the second-fastest team. Now, McLaren will hope to see a similar kind of improvement with the arrivals of Marshall and Sanchez.
