McLaren has taken the F1 world by storm with their remarkable results as of late. A major upgrade to the MCL38 introduced at the Miami GP has turned them into a race-winning outfit. However, McLaren boss Andrea Stella recently said that he is surprised by this unexpected jump in performances.
Red Bull started 2024 as the favorite to dominate. However, first Ferrari, and then McLaren with their planned upgrades made sure that wouldn’t be the case. In Miami, the latter aimed to improve their performance in low-speed corners to close the gap in the front. But soon, it became clear that the car improved in other ways too.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella said, as quoted by Motorsport Italia,
“The car, compared to what we expected, seems to behave well even at low speed, perhaps a little more than we had predicted based on our development tools, which is good news.”
The upgrades McLaren brought paid off immediately too. Lando Norris secured his first F1 race win in Miami and in Imola, was just 0.7 seconds behind Max Verstappen (race winner) on the final lap. McLaren’s overall success continued in Monaco where even though Norris finished P4, his teammate Oscar Piastri got second place.
Stella then emphasized the importance of distinguishing between the correlation and predicted data, noting that things have been going as expected on this front. As a result, the 2024 championship battle has now taken an interesting turn with McLaren joining in.
Red Bull can’t run away with both championships in 2024
McLaren’s first major upgrade package of 2023, which came in Austria, turned their season around for good. Since then, the papaya team has become a top outfit and has been consistent at the front end of the grid. This development is a clear indication that McLaren now has a solid grasp of the ground-effect regulations.
Former Aston Martin strategy chief Bernie Collins explains the Red Bull RB20’s struggles on bumpy surfaces.
The Red Bull RB20’s design prioritizes aerodynamics, which leads to issues on tracks with bumps and kerbs, such as Monaco.
Championship leader Max Verstappen experienced… pic.twitter.com/MRtxUQHRmJ
— This is Formula 1 (@ThisIsFormu1a1) May 30, 2024
What this also means is that Red Bull, who dominated the last two seasons in F1, comfortably winning both the drivers’ and the constructors’ world championships, will find it difficult to repeat the same.
McLaren, because of their improvements, is expected to give the Milton-Keynes-based team a run for its money. Additionally, Ferrari will also be a team to keep an eye out for, because they too, are on the ascendency thanks to their upgrades.
