Former Red Bull chief Rob Marshall is all set to start working with McLaren from next season onwards. However, according to Business F1, despite being on gardening leave he has already shared some important information related to the RB-19 with the Woking-based outfit.
As McLaren have become increasingly competitive this season, there are talks about Marshall’s involvement behind this. The Woking-based outfit seem to have a similar design to the RB-19’s rear suspension, which helped Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri get a lot closer to the defending champions in recent races.
According to Business F1 (as quoted by GP Blog), the former Red Bull chief might have helped his future team with important upgrades to challenge the unbeatable RB-19. He is suspected to have done it through Peter Prodromou with whom he worked at Red Bull under Adrian Newey.
However, Red Bull might not suspect anything illegal given this is a common scene as it is a gray area of gardening leave. As for Marshall, who has been at Red Bull since 2006, will now join McLaren in a senior technical role from January 1, 2024.
How did McLaren rise from the ashes?
McLaren had a disastrous start to the 2023 season as they failed to score any points after the first two races and languished at the back of the grid. Even the next few races went below average for them.
Things changed from the British Grand Prix onwards when the Woking-based team began to bring upgrades gradually. Soon after they emerged as the biggest challengers to Red Bull.
Since McLaren had a sluggish start to the 2023 season, they are only fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. Else, they could have even fought Mercedes and Ferrari for second in the championship.
The recent races have been outstanding for McLaren though as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have had multiple podium finishes. The team’s last podium came in Austin when Norris finished second, only behind race-winner Max Verstappen.
