2023 - McLaren Formula 1 Team

[CjC]

While it’s great to hear Lando so optimistic and like he and Stella said there is a lot to come for next year I won’t be getting too carried away.

I’ll say this without any knowledge so this is up for discussion.

Ok, let’s say Mclaren have a weak mechanical platform. Won’t this be harder to ‘get right’ than a car (team X) which already has a strong mechanical platform but just needs a better aerodynamic concept?
But on the other hand I’d imagine if Mclaren do ‘get right’ the mechanical platform combined with their strong aerodynamics which will inevitably be improved for next season, Mclaren potentially should find more laptime than ‘team X’?

I have no doubt the RB20 will be another fine car, the RB19 doesn’t currently utilize the waterslide sidepods so those combined with their own ideas should produce a fair amount of laptime for Red bull next season?

[FittingMechanics]

We have to accept a big possibility that Red Bull will start the season in dominant form. Anything other than that would be a big surprise. They were so strong this year they didn't really need to push any updates to the car and I am sure that they were "sandbagging" when they had opportunity to do so. Being too dominant can bring technical rule changes to curb your dominance.

With that being said, I am cautiously optimistic that Rob Marshall and David Sanchez can bring new ideas and understanding to the car which should help McLaren make bigger gains they normally would.

I hope they retain the car naming scheme of this year making the next car MCL61.

Lawrence Barretto, F1 Correspondent & Presenter, says…
McLaren are going through a difficult patch right now. Lando Norris admitted to me on Sunday in Monaco that the team currently have “one of the worst cars to start the season with that we’ve had for the last five or six years”.

Written on May 30th.

How things change.

[M840TR]

Oof, I am scared to have expectations to be honest. But everything is looking positive right now.

Stella said after Singapore that the upgrades brought there were the last of the season because, firstly, they wanted to focus on 2024, but also because the rest of the development increments they have planned for this concept are not compatible with the mechanical platform of this year's car.

And that got me thinking. We are literally running the same mechanical platform of the conservative concept created under James Key in 2022. We started 2023 with a clear evolution of 2022 with failed development targets which put the team miserably as 9th quickest at the start of the season.

The upgrades they have put on, while incredibly impressive, are still "patches" on top of a fundamentally weak mechanical platform. They are running an handicapped concept this year and have managed to pull that car into a performance window which could safely put them as the most reliable #2 challenger after RedBull.

That just makes it even more impressive. There's literally so much to gain for them over the winter, it's not like we have hit the wall of diminishing returns, not even close. And with more technical talent joining the team, there's plenty of reasons for optimism.

But I digress, I still am cautious with my optimism. It's been what, 11 years at this point since the last McLaren car that actually started the season as a proper podium/win contender. After so many years, fear of disappointment is still there.

So, until the cars get running in the first race of 2024, I will keep my expectations on check.

Where did Stella mention the bit about incompatibility with mechanical platform?

[Tomsky]

[Emag]

Oof, I am scared to have expectations to be honest. But everything is looking positive right now.

Stella said after Singapore that the upgrades brought there were the last of the season because, firstly, they wanted to focus on 2024, but also because the rest of the development increments they have planned for this concept are not compatible with the mechanical platform of this year's car.

And that got me thinking. We are literally running the same mechanical platform of the conservative concept created under James Key in 2022. We started 2023 with a clear evolution of 2022 with failed development targets which put the team miserably as 9th quickest at the start of the season.

The upgrades they have put on, while incredibly impressive, are still "patches" on top of a fundamentally weak mechanical platform. They are running an handicapped concept this year and have managed to pull that car into a performance window which could safely put them as the most reliable #2 challenger after RedBull.

That just makes it even more impressive. There's literally so much to gain for them over the winter, it's not like we have hit the wall of diminishing returns, not even close. And with more technical talent joining the team, there's plenty of reasons for optimism.

But I digress, I still am cautious with my optimism. It's been what, 11 years at this point since the last McLaren car that actually started the season as a proper podium/win contender. After so many years, fear of disappointment is still there.

So, until the cars get running in the first race of 2024, I will keep my expectations on check.

Where did Stella mention the bit about incompatibility with mechanical platform?

I tried looking for it now but I can't seem to find it. I am almost 90% certain that I heard it on a video. It was either a live interview in one of the post-race events or one of the videos that are often posted in the Formula 1 official website.

If I somehow come across it again, I will come back with a source.

[BMMR61]

Oof, I am scared to have expectations to be honest. But everything is looking positive right now.

Stella said after Singapore that the upgrades brought there were the last of the season because, firstly, they wanted to focus on 2024, but also because the rest of the development increments they have planned for this concept are not compatible with the mechanical platform of this year's car.

And that got me thinking. We are literally running the same mechanical platform of the conservative concept created under James Key in 2022. We started 2023 with a clear evolution of 2022 with failed development targets which put the team miserably as 9th quickest at the start of the season.

The upgrades they have put on, while incredibly impressive, are still "patches" on top of a fundamentally weak mechanical platform. They are running an handicapped concept this year and have managed to pull that car into a performance window which could safely put them as the most reliable #2 challenger after RedBull.

That just makes it even more impressive. There's literally so much to gain for them over the winter, it's not like we have hit the wall of diminishing returns, not even close. And with more technical talent joining the team, there's plenty of reasons for optimism.

But I digress, I still am cautious with my optimism. It's been what, 11 years at this point since the last McLaren car that actually started the season as a proper podium/win contender. After so many years, fear of disappointment is still there.

So, until the cars get running in the first race of 2024, I will keep my expectations on check.

Where did Stella mention the bit about incompatibility with mechanical platform?

I tried looking for it now but I can't seem to find it. I am almost 90% certain that I heard it on a video. It was either a live interview in one of the post-race events or one of the videos that are often posted in the Formula 1 official website.

If I somehow come across it again, I will come back with a source.

I can't remember ever hearing that and was going to challenge you on just that on your OP. However the rest I totally agree with you but would perhaps characterise the matter of the "patches" (Austria - Singapore upgrades) as being based on a conservative 2022 concept which failed to integrate mechanical and aero concepts into one harmonious piece. Yes, it's extremely impressive how, in F1 terms, the car leapt ahead in performance to the extent of almost 1 second better than the evolutions of their competitors. With a patch-up! Incredible! So, will the brain team be able to build on the knowledge (not guesswork) of 2023 to take the platform to a level necessary to be the challenger to RB for wins on merit? No question there's too much to develop to challenge RedBull across the season for a championship but wins have to be the goal. The consistency of the patched-up car when pitched alongside Ferrari and Mercedes who have looked at times to be quite lost, bodes well for an orderly development cycle into 2024.

[BMMR61]

Does anyone know how the FIA rule on matters of "gardening leave" where there is this usually 12 month stand-down period? Obviously there has to be a conversation between the two parties (team and future employee) on their role and where they fit in. The matter of design concepts in the instance of new design members would seem to necessitate discussions before the engagement is formalised. Would future direction discussions be something accepted as legitimate conversations carried out during "gardening leave"? If so, how could that be affecting the work of Prodromou, Stella and company, on the 2024 car?

[Mostlyeels]

Does anyone know how the FIA rule on matters of "gardening leave" where there is this usually 12 month stand-down period? Obviously there has to be a conversation between the two parties (team and future employee) on their role and where they fit in. The matter of design concepts in the instance of new design members would seem to necessitate discussions before the engagement is formalised. Would future direction discussions be something accepted as legitimate conversations carried out during "gardening leave"? If so, how could that be affecting the work of Prodromou, Stella and company, on the 2024 car?

All good questions. Does the FIA even get involved, or is it all done under the labour laws of the country the employer is incorporated in? I hadn't heard of something similar to the CRB but for employees of the teams.

[Macklaren]

Given the 2007 debacle I doubt McLaren will come anywhere close to exploiting these loopholes

[Ground Effect]

Stella on Red Bull's tyre degradation advantage.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mcla ... /10544137/

[Ground Effect]

Where McLaren will find what it's still missing to Red Bull

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/wher ... -red-bull/

[CjC]

Stella on Red Bull's tyre degradation advantage.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mcla ... /10544137/

Verstappen said after Qatar that Red Bulls main advantage was tyre wear and I think he said they started their development cycle to improve their tyre wear in the second half of the 2022 season.

[CjC]

Where McLaren will find what it's still missing to Red Bull

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/wher ... -red-bull/

Great article.

@Emag in this article Stella talks about the suspension which vindicates your comments in previous posts

[Emag]

Yeah that was a great read.

I am a bit annoyed I can't find the original source, but I promise I did not make up the part about this year's car being mechanically limited. I think it must have been on an interview in one of those post race events. And vod/transcripts of those are usually hard/impossible to find.

[M840TR]

Oof, I am scared to have expectations to be honest. But everything is looking positive right now.

Stella said after Singapore that the upgrades brought there were the last of the season because, firstly, they wanted to focus on 2024, but also because the rest of the development increments they have planned for this concept are not compatible with the mechanical platform of this year's car.

And that got me thinking. We are literally running the same mechanical platform of the conservative concept created under James Key in 2022. We started 2023 with a clear evolution of 2022 with failed development targets which put the team miserably as 9th quickest at the start of the season.

The upgrades they have put on, while incredibly impressive, are still "patches" on top of a fundamentally weak mechanical platform. They are running an handicapped concept this year and have managed to pull that car into a performance window which could safely put them as the most reliable #2 challenger after RedBull.

That just makes it even more impressive. There's literally so much to gain for them over the winter, it's not like we have hit the wall of diminishing returns, not even close. And with more technical talent joining the team, there's plenty of reasons for optimism.

But I digress, I still am cautious with my optimism. It's been what, 11 years at this point since the last McLaren car that actually started the season as a proper podium/win contender. After so many years, fear of disappointment is still there.

So, until the cars get running in the first race of 2024, I will keep my expectations on check.

Where did Stella mention the bit about incompatibility with mechanical platform?

I tried looking for it now but I can't seem to find it. I am almost 90% certain that I heard it on a video. It was either a live interview in one of the post-race events or one of the videos that are often posted in the Formula 1 official website.

If I somehow come across it again, I will come back with a source.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/wher ... -red-bull/

He feels the RB19 is “superior” in how it limits the amount the tyres lose grip over a stint, and strongly hinted at some fundamental architecture on the current McLaren limiting his team’s capacity to react and close the gap.

“Where we think the difference is made we can’t do very much with this car,” he added.

Stella was extremely coy when asked in Brazil how much of Red Bull’s apparent tyre degradation advantage over McLaren relates to aerodynamics and how much relates to mechanical grip.

He was only prepared to say “it’s a combination of both”. He indicated McLaren has “set some targets” in terms of developing its way out of this situation - but added: “I can’t say in which area and how”.

But he did at least confirm McLaren’s area of focus is “not only aero”

This is all I could find.