2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[BMMR61]

Regards the upcoming upgrades I think they will now be more evolutionary than revolutionary. I say "I think". Andrea is as transparent and honest a TP as can be without giving away important team secrets. So his pre-Austria talk of the 50/25/25% was five races and nine weeks ago - plans change according to results and data. I suspect that we will see a more Turkey-like aero spec (perhaps the Monaco Wing) for Singapore, and maybe the tested but abandoned Netherlands rear wing reappearing for Suzuka. It's generally regarded by reliable pundits, that Monza represented the low point of McLaren competitiveness in the second half of 2023. COTA also looks a little average for McLaren. I think suspension changes will be very minor and more evolutionary tweaks to reduce squat and dive which affect porpoising and bottoming and are more and more, better understood.

I come away from Italy's results not discouraged. Albon was more the cork in the bottle than many recognise. Our tyre deg and wear in the hot conditions on mediums was not at all bad indicating we can put that old weakness to bed. Although results and race optics indicate we were slower than Mercedes I think it was much closer than it looked. George didn't have to pass Albon. Lewis had fresher, softer tyres in the second stint ato attack Albon and slightly better top speed. That was it! The wear as expected was pretty bad on the Williams. It was a modestly clever strategy to split the two tyre strategies as it was totally expected that Albon would defend strongly. It worked. Why not McLaren? We seemed to be as strong on hards in Q1 as Mercedes. But they have the data so maybe we'll find out later.

[mwillems]

Not looking forward to what would happen if Oscar gets a win first though. Poor Lando is gonna get SO much s#it if that happens

Yeah my feelings exactly. Lando is a great lad, has grown from a quite immature kid to a very solid top five driver who really deserves to have had his first win - were it not for this damn era of two team domination! LOL
Please Lando, do it to silence the inner doubts that Oscar's presence in the team will be starting to ignite.

It's worth keeping an eye on because a couple of times now we've seen Landos performance starting to dip below what we'd expect from him. But I think that is maybe because Oscar is starting to set his own benchmarks, which can't be complained about.

I am British and I'd love a British driver to do well but I'm not that precious and I'd support the team more than any driver and I'd be more than happy for Oscar to become a more dominant force in the team.

I just want to hear his contract being extended. I was hoping to hear in or after the break. I'd be surprised if it hasn't been broached, but I guess of I was them I'd wait and see what happens with the Red Team.

[BMMR61]

I think Oscar is mentally tougher than Lando who suffered from a bit of an inferiority complex until he broke through in 2021, and the results showed that year. Oscar shouldn't just be judged on his results, but by the manner he goes about things and how he responds to whatever is thrown at him. I'm not going to put unfair and unrealistic expectations on him but rather sit back and enjoy his progress. We need to accept that Lando is still the senior at McLaren even if his teammate is bringing the heat, I'm sure Oscar isn't getting ahead of himself and understands the importance of a good relationship with Lando and the rest of the team.

[Mostlyeels]

I come away from Italy's results not discouraged. Albon was more the cork in the bottle than many recognise. Our tyre deg and wear in the hot conditions on mediums was not at all bad indicating we can put that old weakness to bed.

I would've loved to have seen the McLaren's performance in clear air, but that's racing Albon did an annoyingly-great job of keeping us behind (no mistakes), even with the pressure Lando was putting him under.

On Piastri's contract, what is it again? 1+1?

[mwillems]

I come away from Italy's results not discouraged. Albon was more the cork in the bottle than many recognise. Our tyre deg and wear in the hot conditions on mediums was not at all bad indicating we can put that old weakness to bed.

I would've loved to have seen the McLaren's performance in clear air, but that's racing Albon did an annoyingly-great job of keeping us behind (no mistakes), even with the pressure Lando was putting him under.

On Piastri's contract, what is it again? 1+1?

We have him foe 2, if it is1 plus 1 then I think the option us ours. But end of 24 will see the Red Car and RB at least with seats, so a dangerous time if you have drivers in demand.

Monza was fine for me. We were always going to struggle to overtake which is why I figured the only way was backwards, but we didn't drop back too much. Alonso caught up too late and luckily nobody else was getting a tow so our lap times were good.

Next year should be more exciting I hope.

[CjC]

I come away from Italy's results not discouraged. Albon was more the cork in the bottle than many recognise. Our tyre deg and wear in the hot conditions on mediums was not at all bad indicating we can put that old weakness to bed.

I would've loved to have seen the McLaren's performance in clear air, but that's racing Albon did an annoyingly-great job of keeping us behind (no mistakes), even with the pressure Lando was putting him under.

On Piastri's contract, what is it again? 1+1?

We have him foe 2, if it is1 plus 1 then I think the option us ours. But end of 24 will see the Red Car and RB at least with seats, so a dangerous time if you have drivers in demand.

Monza was fine for me. We were always going to struggle to overtake which is why I figured the only way was backwards, but we didn't drop back too much. Alonso caught up too late and luckily nobody else was getting a tow so our lap times were good.

Next year should be more exciting I hope.

Regarding the drivers, it’s imperative that Mclaren produce a competitive car, if they do then it’s not just a case of Mclaren holding onto their current drivers- other drivers will want to race for Mclaren.

I’d be surprised If Leclerc moves, however I’m not sure about Sainz.
At Red Bull I think as long as Verstappen is in one of the cars then they’ll look for a decent number 2… which could be Lawson.

[mwillems]

I would've loved to have seen the McLaren's performance in clear air, but that's racing Albon did an annoyingly-great job of keeping us behind (no mistakes), even with the pressure Lando was putting him under.

On Piastri's contract, what is it again? 1+1?

We have him foe 2, if it is1 plus 1 then I think the option us ours. But end of 24 will see the Red Car and RB at least with seats, so a dangerous time if you have drivers in demand.

Monza was fine for me. We were always going to struggle to overtake which is why I figured the only way was backwards, but we didn't drop back too much. Alonso caught up too late and luckily nobody else was getting a tow so our lap times were good.

Next year should be more exciting I hope.

Regarding the drivers, it’s imperative that Mclaren produce a competitive car, if they do then it’s not just a case of Mclaren holding onto their current drivers- other drivers will want to race for Mclaren.

I’d be surprised If Leclerc moves, however I’m not sure about Sainz.
At Red Bull I think as long as Verstappen is in one of the cars then they’ll look for a decent number 2… which could be Lawson.

Sainz keeps giving interviews complaining about not having a new contract yet and there is a lot of talk around the Sainz Audi links and that he will end up there.

It is also clear that Leclerc is the Ferrari darling. I like Sainz though, I'd love for him to win the teammate battle this and next year. If we did lose a driver I'd be happy to have Sainz in the team. He's not perfect, but he feels like a Mclaren driver.

[CjC]

I’ll be surprised if we see Sainz at Mclaren though…. Unless it’s clear Mclaren are going to dominate for years to come and I doubt that will happen.
He’ll want to stay at Ferrrai or join a works outfit potentially Audi or Aston?

Who knows, like you say get the current drivers on 10 year deals

[BMMR61]

The future Audi team previously known as...... Sauber, hmmmm. If Carlos is feeling enough frustration to consider leaving in 25 it would seem like a case of frying pan to fire. A resurgent McLaren might be the best offer he could hope for. Audi have built hybrid sports race cars but F1 is a level beyond, they will have a quite steep climb and Seidl isn't quite the wunderkind we first thought. Nice guy but F1 has many challenges for Andreas whereas Stella has proven to be quite a powerhouse for change. The reason for driver speculation - our two drivers will both be highly sought after commodities, even if they start scoring regular podiums and even wins. I think it rather likely that at least one will defect for 2025 so Zak needs to keep in drivers' quickdials. While my preference over almost any current driver would be the current two, Carlos would make an excellent reliable, safe, pair of hands.

[MCLvamos]

Norris isn't going anywhere in my opinion as long as McLaren keep this upward trajectory. The only option I see is Oscar feeling like he's not prioritised in the team as the rookie novelty wears off. But most likely these two will be here for years to come.

[mwillems]

I’ll be surprised if we see Sainz at Mclaren though…. Unless it’s clear Mclaren are going to dominate for years to come and I doubt that will happen.
He’ll want to stay at Ferrrai or join a works outfit potentially Audi or Aston?

Who knows, like you say get the current drivers on 10 year deals

Oh yeah I'm not predicting it, I don't think it would happen, but if we had to replace I'd give him a shot.

But replacing is over a year away if we have to do it, and you can Guarantee that the £1.5m contract that Piastri has will be close to £6m very soon, or more if he starts regularly getting ahead of Lando.

When Lando got ahead of Ricciardo very quickly he was given a massive bump that took him a little over Daniel at just over £16m, which I doubt was something the team planned for, just a cheeky little something from Lando.. I'm the top earner here! Fair play to him!

[Balalu]

I think Oscar is mentally tougher than Lando who suffered from a bit of an inferiority complex until he broke through in 2021, and the results showed that year. Oscar shouldn't just be judged on his results, but by the manner he goes about things and how he responds to whatever is thrown at him. I'm not going to put unfair and unrealistic expectations on him but rather sit back and enjoy his progress. We need to accept that Lando is still the senior at McLaren even if his teammate is bringing the heat, I'm sure Oscar isn't getting ahead of himself and understands the importance of a good relationship with Lando and the rest of the team.

This. I sometimes worry that Lando is not as mentally strong as say Verstappen or Hamilton. He did improve this greatly over the years. Mental strength can be absolutly everything. He knows it, acknowledged it and works on it. So he should be fine.

[mwillems]

I just realised that Mclaren Holdings, which includes Automotive but not now Mclaren Racing, released their accounts at the end of May, and it it isn't pretty reading.

It seems that Mclaren Racing have been "Bought" by Mclaren Group which is the parent to Mclaren Holdings and those accounts will be released in 2-3 weeks time. No doubt the F1 team has done well but it should be an interesting read.

Bit scary and telling though, for the numbers from Automotive and from the desire to disconnect racing from the company that files the accounts for automotive.

https://investors.mclaren.com/results-center/2023

[mwillems]

I think Oscar is mentally tougher than Lando who suffered from a bit of an inferiority complex until he broke through in 2021, and the results showed that year. Oscar shouldn't just be judged on his results, but by the manner he goes about things and how he responds to whatever is thrown at him. I'm not going to put unfair and unrealistic expectations on him but rather sit back and enjoy his progress. We need to accept that Lando is still the senior at McLaren even if his teammate is bringing the heat, I'm sure Oscar isn't getting ahead of himself and understands the importance of a good relationship with Lando and the rest of the team.

This. I sometimes worry that Lando is not as mentally strong as say Verstappen or Hamilton. He did improve this greatly over the years. Mental strength can be absolutly everything. He knows it, acknowledged it and works on it. So he should be fine.

I agree. But I have to say that the defence at Silverstone v Hamilton shows that he really has developed that side, and his elbows. But if there is one thing I notice it is again that consistency not just on a lap to lap basis but in his approach or perhaps where his head is at. Bit he isn't far off and I wouldn't criticise it myself. I just notice how easy it all comes to Oscar, who seems the breeze through the pressure and get on without making any noicse.

[mwillems]

The future Audi team previously known as...... Sauber, hmmmm. If Carlos is feeling enough frustration to consider leaving in 25 it would seem like a case of frying pan to fire. A resurgent McLaren might be the best offer he could hope for. Audi have built hybrid sports race cars but F1 is a level beyond, they will have a quite steep climb and Seidl isn't quite the wunderkind we first thought. Nice guy but F1 has many challenges for Andreas whereas Stella has proven to be quite a powerhouse for change. The reason for driver speculation - our two drivers will both be highly sought after commodities, even if they start scoring regular podiums and even wins. I think it rather likely that at least one will defect for 2025 so Zak needs to keep in drivers' quickdials. While my preference over almost any current driver would be the current two, Carlos would make an excellent reliable, safe, pair of hands.

From another point of view they want success, have bags full of cash and an extremely close association with his Dad. Whether he leaves Ferrari or not I don't know but they don't seem.in a rush, but I suspect the Sauber Audi seat is his if he wants it, but without a doubt he'd stay if it is offered.

Maybe now Hamilton has signed they will give him new terms, if that was ever a factor.