McLaren can use its clear position in third place in the constructors’ championship as “a trampoline” to try and challenge Red Bull and Ferrari with upgrades, according to team principal Andrea Stella. In 2023, McLaren struggled significantly in the …
McLaren can use its clear position in third place in the constructors’ championship as “a trampoline” to try and challenge Red Bull and Ferrari with upgrades, according to team principal Andrea Stella.
In 2023, McLaren struggled significantly in the opening rounds but its season was turned around by a major update in Austria at the start of July. This season, Stella is taking confidence from the way McLaren has cemented its position as a podium contender, as it sits third in the standings with more than double the points of fourth-placed Mercedes.
“We are pleased with the fact that we confirmed a strong third position in these first four races of the season, the third-best car, and definitely this is reflected in the championship points,” Stella told SiriusXM. “So this is a positive, and it’s a positive for many reasons. The most important for me is that we kind of consolidated the trajectory that McLaren started 12 months ago.
“But this is a trampoline. This is a starting point for us to further improve the car, which is definitely needed if you want to stay third because the cars behind us will not just be watching. But I would like to say that we look forward. We look at Ferrari not being too far away, and we know that we have potential in our car development.
“So this is the race that we want to have this year — like last year a development race, and then let’s see at the end of the season who has done the better job.”
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A significant upgrade package was referenced from the moment McLaren launched its 2024 car, and Stella says next week’s Chinese Grand Prix is likely to be the final race before it is introduced at the Miami GP next month.
“I hope we will be able to deploy the upgrades in Miami. Even if it’s a sprint event I think the performance opportunity that we have deserves a consideration even for a sprint event,” Stella said. “It’s the same as we did last year in Austria, and very likely this is what we will be doing this year in Miami. Once we see how much performance we are able to add there, we will more realistically think about what we can compete for this season.”
There was a bit of a theme among some of the pre-season predictions this year centered around the dynamic between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The young Australian’s strong rookie season was great for McLaren, as it signalled a formidable line-up …
There was a bit of a theme among some of the pre-season predictions this year centered around the dynamic between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The young Australian’s strong rookie season was great for McLaren, as it signalled a formidable line-up that it has locked down for years to come. But Norris had offered up a number of apologies for small mistakes – mainly in qualifying – towards the end of 2023, and it just raised the question of whether he is feeling a little bit of pressure.
By his own refreshing admission, he does see Piastri as the biggest threat to his reputation since entering Formula 1 himself in 2019.
“I’ll just be honest and say yes,” Norris tells RACER. “Because (the expectation) is (on me), it always is. I’ve never been afraid to say it, because it’s the truth. Your biggest threat is always your teammate, in terms of how you perform.
“It never means you go against each other. It’s just the person you compare to the most, and the person other people compare you to the most is your teammate. So you always think like that. And he’s doing a very good job and he’s pushing me more than I’ve been pushed over the last few years. That’s a good thing; a good thing for me.”
But both drivers can be pleased with how they’ve handled the situation so far. Piastri has been close to Norris at all times and beat him in Saudi Arabia, but it’s the more experienced of the two who took the first podium on offer in Melbourne, and had the upper hand in Bahrain.
Norris got the upper hand in Bahrain as well as Australia. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Piastri sits a point ahead of Norris at this early stage of the season, but instead of that being a negative, the Briton feels the overall performance is helping both of them raise their game.
“I think just the level is higher, more than feeling like I have to suddenly do more,” he says. “The bar is a little bit higher, there’s just a little bit more focus. My job is always try and drive as quickly as I can, it’s just when you have a better teammate, there’s just some more areas you learn ‘OK, maybe you can do a bit more of this or a bit more of that’, and there’s always a place that he’s gonna be quicker. So you can always learn from that.
“You always have a little bit of that, but I still come into the weekend the same way – that’s always been to work as hard as I can with the group around me to get the most out of myself. As simple as that.”
The focus on the McLaren pair is also arguably greater because of the position that the team has progressed into. A year ago it was miles off the pace and struggling to escape Q1, but by mid-season it was a regular podium contender. That’s something it has maintained over the off-season and marks the biggest difference between the current team and previous iterations of McLaren that Norris has been part of.
Since then the 24-year-old has committed his long-term future to the team, and admits the way 2023 eventually panned out played a part in him doing so.
“I think last year was kind of the year which kind of decided a bit more what was going to happen,” he says. “Because if we still struggled last year just as much as we did at the beginning, and we didn’t really turn things around, then I think things could be potentially quite different.
“So I think last year was a deciding… like an important year for the team to kind of show what they were capable of doing. Because that was then five years of improving a bit, like taking a step back, improving a bit, step back, and not cementing it and consistently moving forward.
“And I think that’s the thing we’ve kind of missed. For the first time we’ve done it from last year to this year a bit more. So that’s really been the biggest thing. But last year was an important year for the team to show them that they can do the steps that they need to do.”
The consolidation of McLaren’s position in the pecking order this year has still come with the caveat that there were development items that were not yet ready for the launch specification of car, and will be delivered later in the season.
McLaren’s turnaround began in Austria last year. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
It’s not the same situation as a year ago, when it took until the Austrian Grand Prix in the middle of the European season to make a step, but it does mean there are upgrades due around the Miami weekend next month that could move McLaren further forward.
For Norris, it’s important that expectations are kept in check given where the team currently finds itself and the scope for improvement, but he’s hopeful that the coming months will see a continuation of the momentum that McLaren has built up under Andrea Stella.
“I still want to believe that, for sure,” he says. “I think to achieve what we did last year is impossible, because that was such a big jump, because we had such a bad car! It’s much easier to do that than to have a good car and make it an insanely good car, you know?
“Everything starts to plateau a little bit. But there’s still plenty of things that we’re looking into and we know we have coming. Pure developments, improving everything a bit on the car, focusing on certain areas; things that I’ve been struggling with quite a bit over the last few years, and things that we’ve not been able to really tackle.
“Now that we’re in a better place, and we can have more focus on specific areas rather than just going ‘we just need a good car’. These are extra things which allow me to push more or be more consistent and extract more from the car itself, which will lead to more performance.
“So now we’re starting to attack some of those areas, which again will take time, that also gives me some good feelings of what we can we can achieve together.”
For now “together” includes the teammate that is pushing Norris so hard. He and Piastri enjoy a strong relationship and have worked well together on track – the latest example came as the pair chased a podium in Melbourne, where Piastri fully understood the need for him to move aside for Norris based on strategy decisions.
The only remaining test for the pair is if McLaren delivers a regular race-winning car, but for now the partnership sees each only serving to further strengthen the other’s reputation.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is “very excited” about the team’s chances at the Japanese Grand Prix following a step forward in performance in Australia. Oscar Piastri finished fourth at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but struggled to pass Lewis …
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is “very excited” about the team’s chances at the Japanese Grand Prix following a step forward in performance in Australia.
Oscar Piastri finished fourth at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but struggled to pass Lewis Hamilton for much of the race with a lack of top speed, even when DRS was open, hurting his chances. After a more competitive showing in Melbourne where Lando Norris finished third ahead of Piastri again in fourth, Brown says McLaren has already made progress with that area of weakness.
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“We made some changes to address that and we still have work to do but where we were pretty far off with our DRS in Saudi I think we’ve taken a nice step forward and it’s something for us to continue to build on,” Brown told SpeedCity Broadcasting.
“I’m very excited, I think we should be pretty strong in Suzuka.”
Norris claimed he should have finished second in Melbourne having run there in the early part of the race before Charles Leclerc undercut him in the pits, but Brown says the lost position shouldn’t overshadow how competitive overall the team was.
“It was pretty close, we were only a few seconds off. You don’t know what [Leclerc] had left in the tank, but clearly we were very competitive. We were pretty close to the front. I think any time your cars can see the winner, that’s a pretty good thing.”
However, there were words of caution from Norris himself, who – despite a double podium finish at Suzuka last season – doesn’t believe McLaren’s strong start to 2024 makes a repeat any more likely, given the gains Ferrari has made this season.
“You’ve got a lot of high speed,” Norris said. “The problem is Ferrari have improved their high speed a lot and that’s where they were struggling last year. So that’s why they’ve been able to take such a good step forward.
“I think we can still have a good weekend. We can still look forward to it. And I would love to say that if we can get two cars on a podium again, it would be a lovely weekend. But I think we have two more cars this year that we’re competing against on these types of circuits, not just Max [Verstappen].”
McLaren has announced the departure of technical director of car concept and performance David Sanchez after just three months with its Formula 1 team. Sanchez was one of two high-profile signings for McLaren last year, announced as joining from …
McLaren has announced the departure of technical director of car concept and performance David Sanchez after just three months with its Formula 1 team.
Sanchez was one of two high-profile signings for McLaren last year, announced as joining from Ferrari at a similar time to the team securing the services of Red Bull’s Rob Marshall. The pair started work in January but McLaren has now announced a restructuring in which Sanchez will depart with immediate effect and no “gardening leave” period, as the scope of the role did not match expectations.
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“This further step in the evolution of the structure of the technical department and of the working model within the team signify our commitment to constantly enhancing our technical capabilities and workflows for greater efficiency and effectiveness,” team principal Andrea Stella said.
“Following thoughtful discussions between David Sanchez and the team leadership, the mutual decision has been taken for David to leave the team. Upon our joint reflection, it became apparent that the role, responsibilities, and ambitions associated with David’s position did not align with our original expectations when he agreed to join us in February 2023.
“Recognizing this misalignment, both David and I agreed that it would be best to part ways now, so to enable him to pursue other opportunities that will better leverage the full scale and breadth of his remarkable skillset. We greatly and gratefully value the contributions that David has made during his relatively short time with us, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
David Sanchez. Photo by McLaren
Sanchez says McLaren acted fairly in terms of finding a solution for him when it became clear his new job was not of the expected scope.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this team,” Sanchez said. “While the role we envisioned and had agreed to was not aligned with the reality of the position I found, I leave with respect for the leadership, admiration for the dedication of my colleagues, and appreciation for the openness and honesty in which we discussed and arrived at this decision.
“I wish this team continued success as it continues its journey to the front of the grid where it belongs. I look forward to my next challenge within F1.”
Sanchez’s exit has prompted a number of job title changes, with Rob Marshall going from technical director of engineering and design to chief designer, Neil Houldey essentially being promoted into Marshall’s previous role as technical director of engineering, and Stella himself taking on responsibilities as technical director of performance until a permanent appointment is made. Peter Prodromou remains as technical director of aerodynamics.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has been rewarded for recent progress within the team with a contract extension that will keep him in his role until at least 2030. Brown joined McLaren in late 2016, going on to become CEO of McLaren Racing in 2018, a …
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has been rewarded for recent progress within the team with a contract extension that will keep him in his role until at least 2030.
Brown joined McLaren in late 2016, going on to become CEO of McLaren Racing in 2018, a position he has held ever since. The Californian is regularly the team’s spokesperson but has also overseen multiple changes in the wider racing operation, entering and winning races in the likes of IndyCar and Formula E.
The Formula 1 team has also made significant strides in recent seasons, with a major turnaround in form after an overhaul of the technical team seeing McLaren finish fourth in the constructors’ championship last year and end the season regularly fighting to be the second-quickest team.
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“I am thrilled to continue leading McLaren Racing and to be a part of such a historic race team,” Brown said “It is a privilege to work alongside the talented men and women across McLaren Racing’s different race series. Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of motorsport and strive for the highest performance on and off the track.”
The decision to extend Brown’s contract comes with the support of McLaren Group executive chairman Paul Walsh, who says Brown’s been central to the team picking up regular podiums in the latter part of last season.
“Zak has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities and has been instrumental in driving McLaren Racing forward,” Walsh said. “His extension reflects our confidence in his ability to lead the team to even greater success in the years to come.”
Brown installed Andrea Stella as team principal of McLaren in Formula 1 last year, then being able to secure Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris on longer-terms deals over the past seven months.
McLaren is aiming to bring its first major upgrade to its 2024 car in the first third of the season, according to team principal Andrea Stella. The team made clear when it launched its new car that there were still areas it was working on that would …
McLaren is aiming to bring its first major upgrade to its 2024 car in the first third of the season, according to team principal Andrea Stella.
The team made clear when it launched its new car that there were still areas it was working on that would only be ready after the season had started, and that the car’s development would be important in the early stages. Stella says McLaren is almost able to get the maximum performance out of the car in its current state already, and set the timeline for the update package for a window that runs up to the Monaco Grand Prix in late May.
“I think there is margin to understand the car a little bit more,” Stella said. “[In Jeddah] we had a slightly different approach to set-up between the two cars and I think this is interesting with positives and negatives, so you want to gain this knowledge and use it for the future.
“I mean, apart from this optimization which is maybe worth about 0.1s – you cannot find any magic because we have done the test for three days, the two race weekends have had no rain, so we have been on track for a long time.
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“I think we know the car well, apart from these little differences between the two cars that we will review, and I think it’s very much a matter of upgrades or the adaptation to the track in relation to the track characteristics. If you go to Suzuka, and you think Sector 1 is similar to Sector 1 [in Jeddah] and you think McLaren will be fast. So we expect Suzuka will be a good track for us.
“Otherwise it’s a battle of development, and there may be very visible developments where you come with an aerodynamic upgrade – which we will declare in the submissions and is very visible – or there are some other things that you can deliver from a mechanical or even aerodynamic point of view, and at the moment in the pipeline we have both.
“We have some minor things that will come for Australia and hopefully for Japan, but they will be a few milliseconds, and then hopefully within the first third of the season we will have a major upgrade.”
The Australian Grand Prix this weekend comes after the first non-race weekend of the season, but Stella says it is too early to commit to an upgrade package that is significant enough to justify the financial outlay.
“Delivering the upgrades nowadays, it doesn’t have very much to do with the logistics. The main challenge is do you bring upgrades to Sprint races or not? Because we have that in China or Miami for instance, where you only have Free Practice 1.
“But then you have another challenge which is the budget cap. You can’t put something into production as soon as you have something reasonable – you can’t do it like this because you would run out of budget. So you have to be convinced that this is going to be a good upgrade, and then you press the green button and you spend the money.
“And then the next reason why you don’t bring upgrades to Australia is it takes time to create a convincing package that is a significant step. We are very happy with our development rate – I think over the last 12 months we saw that our development rate kept the gradient – so we pressed the button for Austria last year, for Singapore, and then on the new car, and then it’s going to be for around race six or race seven.”
Oscar Piastri says his difficulty overtaking Lewis Hamilton in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix highlighted a number of weaknesses that McLaren is facing. The Australian was running a strong fourth after overtaking Fernando Alonso early in the race and …
Oscar Piastri says his difficulty overtaking Lewis Hamilton in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix highlighted a number of weaknesses that McLaren is facing.
The Australian was running a strong fourth after overtaking Fernando Alonso early in the race and appeared to be a threat to Charles Leclerc [lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]for the podium, but was then stuck behind Hamilton when the Mercedes driver didn’t pit under the safety car. Hamilton had the top speed to keep Piastri at bay until he finally made his own stop, showing up a lack of top speed for the McLaren.
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“I’m not sure fun is the word I would use,” Piastri said. “Frustrating, yes. I mean, I think it kind of just showed a couple of weaknesses of ours definitely. I was very relieved when he boxed out of the way but just didn’t quite have enough on the straights mainly to get past.
“I was hoping he was going to pit about 15 laps before he did, but I think he started to struggle on the tires because I was basically past him when he boxed. He had to pit at some stage, and that seemed like a good time to do it.”
Although McLaren moved ahead of Mercedes in the constructors’ standings in Jeddah, Piastri says the fact that he couldn’t overtake Hamilton shows how track position is key between the two teams.
“I think it’s very, very even. I think we have different strengths and weaknesses for sure. And I think qualifying made the difference (in Saudi Arabia). I think Lewis showed that if we qualify behind them, there was a good chance we were going to be stuck behind them for the whole night.
“So I think it’s very, very tight between us. And yeah, we need to do some work to try and jump them and catch the two teams ahead.”
The next round is Piastri’s home race in Melbourne, and he believes a repeat of his fourth place would constitute a strong result given the track characteristics at Albert Park.
“I think there’s a bit of a mix, a bit more low speed than. But we’ll see. Hopefully we can have a good race. If there’s one race of the year you can pick to have a good one it’s your home race. So we’ll try our best. But yeah, I think if we can finish around where we did (in Jeddah), that would be the most we can do.”
McLaren Motorsport has announced that it is launching a new single-make championship for the North American market: McLaren Trophy America, which will make its debut in 2025. This marks an expansion of McLaren’s single-make racing presence with its …
McLaren Motorsport has announced that it is launching a new single-make championship for the North American market: McLaren Trophy America, which will make its debut in 2025.
This marks an expansion of McLaren’s single-make racing presence with its Artura Trophy race car, following the maiden McLaren Trophy Europe season in 2023.
McLaren Trophy America will be run on the same principles as its European counterpart, as a series that aims to develop Pro-Am driver pairings, with an emphasis on Bronze-rated drivers.
Developed for one-make competition, the Artura Trophy shares similar DNA with the Artura road car, including its lightweight chassis and twin-turbo V6 engine. A thoroughbred racer, it features a suite of track-focused performance upgrades which McLaren says amounts to a package that can produce lap times “within just three seconds of a GT3 car.”
In addition, teams with existing 570S Trophy cars are also eligible for the series and will compete for class wins and championships. Just like Artura Trophy runners, they will receive full support from McLaren Customer Racing, with replacement parts and technical backup available at every round.
All cars in McLaren Trophy America will be run by independent teams and race with tires from Pirelli.
“Following the successful debut of McLaren Trophy Europe in 2023, we are delighted to confirm that the championship is being expanded with the new McLaren Trophy America championship in 2025,” said Mick McDonagh, the director of MSO and Motorsport at McLaren Automotive. “This region represents McLaren Automotive’s biggest market and has a diverse and vibrant motorsport culture, including a strong GT racing contingent that we are proud to be part of.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming members of the extended McLaren family as well as new competitors from the American continents and we hope to one day see some of them compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA championships with McLaren GT racing products.”
The inaugural season will consist of 10 races across five race weekends at “iconic U.S. circuits.” The weekend format will feature over four hours of track time, including two races of 50 minutes in duration that require mandatory pit stops for driver changes.
Full details of the 2025 race calendar will be released later this year.
McLaren’s data suggests all of the Formula 1 teams have made a step forward ahead of the 2024 season, but singles out Red Bull as the only team to make significant progress. The opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain saw Max Verstappen set the …
McLaren’s data suggests all of the Formula 1 teams have made a step forward ahead of the 2024 season, but singles out Red Bull as the only team to make significant progress.
The opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain saw Max Verstappen set the pace by over a second, and complete significant mileage in an ominous start. Day two provided a different picture on the timing screens, with Carlos Sainz 2.5s quicker than Verstappen’s time, and 0.75s ahead of Sergio Perez but having used the softer C4 tire.
For McLaren, the second day yielded the fourth-fastest time with Lando Norris and team principal Andrea Stella says the signs from its car are good, but sees a bigger gap to Red Bull emerging.
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“In terms of report from the two days, I would say that starting from a performance point of view, the car delivers what we expected,” Stella said. “No big surprises — which in itself is some good news, because there are some elements of innovation in the car. So we wanted to see how they would have worked trackside, and they seem in line with expectations.
“I think the car is a good foundation for development — it’s a step forward compared to last year’s car. But overall, I can see that many cars have made a step forward, which is normal. Everyone finds performance in every week of development.
“There’s one car that seems to have found a big step — unfortunately, the car that was already the quickest last year. Some cars, I would say the group was already quite compact last year and, to me, it looks even more compact this year. That’s what we have learned from a competitiveness point of view.
“Otherwise, apart from this little setback on the fuel system, it’s been a relatively smooth session. Oscar [Piastri] and Lando could learn everything pretty much we could learn in a couple of days; a bit more to do tomorrow, especially for Oscar who has run the afternoon session. There’s quite a bit to cash in because clearly the track improves dramatically from like four o’clock onwards, and what you do in the morning session is relevant but not fully representative.”
Explaining the interruption to Norris’ running, Stella says investigations will need to take place to understand the cause of the reliability issue.
“We had to check something in the fuel tank this afternoon. It allowed us to run while we were starting race simulation, but actually we needed to stop the race simulation, so we didn’t bring this achievement home today, because we needed to get into the fuel system. We changed some parts and the car was in condition to go again. So, a little setback but we have identified and will look into what the exact reason is.”
The livery for United Autosports’ pair of FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 class McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs has been revealed ahead of the Qatar Prologue test on Feb. 24-25. The 720S GT3s, which are numbered 59 and 95 in recognition of McLaren’s Le …
The livery for United Autosports’ pair of FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 class McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs has been revealed ahead of the Qatar Prologue test on Feb. 24-25.
The 720S GT3s, which are numbered 59 and 95 in recognition of McLaren’s Le Mans win for the No. 59 car in 1995, will run in a papaya and black livery. The color scheme features nods to the past and remains consistent with the brand’s Formula 1 and IndyCar designs.
“This is a proud moment, unveiling the new look of McLaren on its return to Le Mans and the WEC,” said United Autosports CEO Richard Dean. “The design has racing heritage at its core, harking back to the 1995 Le Mans winner, while being unmistakably part of the current McLaren family. It’s an exciting addition to the 2024 McLaren lineup, complimenting the Formula 1, IndyCar and Formula E designs; they look like winning cars, and we have big ambitions.”
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The 2024 season will be the first time McLaren will contest all three of motor racing’s ‘triple crown” of the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans in the same season, though it will not compete for the overall win at La Sarthe in the FIA WEC.
“We are proud to present the 720S GT3 EVO in conjunction with our racing partner United Autosports ahead of our WEC debut in Qatar with an exciting driver lineup,” Michael Leiters, CEO, McLaren Automotive. “Racing is intrinsic to the McLaren brand and the WEC is the perfect arena to demonstrate the performance capabilities of our supercar engineering programs. We are also pleased to celebrate our victory in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans with our livery, which is a hugely important part of McLaren history.”
