McLaren Unlocks Secrets to Competitiveness, Eyes Further Development in 2024 Formula 1 Season
In an exclusive interview, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella revealed that the Woking-based outfit is far from exhausting its development potential with the current-generation Formula 1 car. Following an incredible turnaround in the previous season, McLaren has carried its momentum into the 2024 campaign, securing Lando Norris’ maiden win in Miami and three consecutive second-place finishes.
The MCL38 has demonstrated impressive competitiveness across all track configurations, with Stella sharing that the team’s low-speed weakness has been effectively eradicated. “It looks like the picture of our competitiveness is starting to finally change, where low speed doesn’t appear anymore like a clear weakness,” he disclosed in Monaco.
Stella attributed the team’s improvement in slow-speed corners to surpassing predicted gains, but remained tight-lipped on the specifics. “We are starting to understand that some of the things we were working on unlocked some of the important behaviours of the car, which become relevant for low-speed corners. But that is information that we don’t necessarily want to share because we don’t want competitors to look into that.”
“We will make some upgrades for the coming races, but it will not be a single major upgrade like we have seen in the last 12 months. It’s more individual components where we’ve found a bit more performance and rather than wait until we can use it all together, we’ll take it to the track when it’s ready.”
The Italian team principal emphasized that McLaren has more development in store, focusing on incremental steps rather than a single major upgrade. Stella hinted at new components being introduced in the next few races, but refused to disclose specific details. “So I won’t say what. But we’ll see some new things in the next few races.” As McLaren continues to gather momentum, fans can expect to see further improvements in the team’s performance throughout the 2024 Formula 1 season.
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