Kyle Busch Saves McLaren F1 Honor at Talladega by Harnessing Inner Ayrton Senna

Sabyasachi Biswas | 25/04/2023
Kyle Busch Saves McLaren F1 Honor at Talladega by Harnessing Inner Ayrton Senna

The last lap of NASCAR’s Talladega race saw Kyle Busch take the win after Bubba Wallace spun while trying to block Ryan Blaney. While the win was nothing too special as per NASCAR standards, it certainly holds a different emotion for F1, McLaren, and Ayrton Senna fans.

The car Busch used in his race at Talladega donned McLaren branding after McLaren Customs Grill tied up with Richard Childress Racing recently. What’s more fascinating was the number on the car he drove to win in NASCAR.

The American drove the McLaren branded number 8 car, an iconic combination in Formula 1. Coincidentally, three-time F1 world champion Ayrton Senna drove the same numbered car during his time at McLaren. The Brazilian F1 pilot drove the MP4/8 back in 1993.

The car had number 8 embedded in the front and it was the last car Senna used to complete one full season before his untimely death in 1994. With the MP4/8 the Brazilian maestro won five races. As per the-then boss Ron Dennis the MP4/8 was “one of the best cars ever made.”

McLaren wins, but not where they want to

Although the win for McLaren in NASCAR might put a smile on the faces of the Papaya fans, it’s certainly brought out the ugly phase the Woking-based team is facing currently.

The team that once was a ferocious force, has now been reduced to their shadows. Admittedly, the team from Woking has gone from bad to worse when it comes to performance as the latest MCL60 struggled against its competitors yet again.

McLaren last won a race back in 2021, when Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided. Apart from that there wasn’t any significant improvement seen in the Woking outfit. Even in 2022, they remained winless.

Where does the British team stand in the 2023 F1 championship?

The start of the 2023 season has been anything but bright for the Woking-based team. In the inaugural race in Bahrain, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished without points.

In round two in Jeddah, the McLaren duo had yet another zero-point finish. Norris finished in P17, while his teammate Piastri finished in P15. However, the Australian GP have them double points.

Having benefitted from at least five DNFs and Carlos Sainz’s penalty, the Woking-based team managed to claim 12 points this season and that was all. As things stand, McLaren is expected to struggle to finish their season in P5 in the constructors’ championship this season.

Post Edited By: Shreya Sanjeev
Ayrton Senna Kyle Busch Lando Norris McLaren Oscar Piastri

About the author

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

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