McLaren Aims For Championship With Bold Upgrade Plan

Saajan Jogia | Aug 13, 2024

May 4, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Crewmembers push the car of McLaren driver Lando Norris (4) on the grid before the F1 Sprint Race at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed a plan to capitalize on the boost in performance witnessed recently by introducing "new parts" for the MCL38 F1 car after the summer break to close in on Red Bull in the Championship Standings.

The Papaya team made a remarkable comeback in performance compared to last year, thanks to a major upgrade introduced in Miami. This enhancement allowed the MCL38 to outperform Red Bull's RB20, which had dominated the early races of the season before the competition caught up. Trailing Red Bull in the top position in the Constructors' Championship, McLaren has managed to narrow the difference to 42 points.

Stella was pleasantly surprised by the immediate impact of McLaren’s major upgrade, which allowed it to compete fiercely against rivals like Ferrari and Mercedes, which also seems to have figured out the secret to winning races in the ground effect era. Considering the intense competition, McLaren is strategizing for even greater performance, with plans to introduce new parts after the summer break to further enhance the car's pace in upcoming races.

Under the aerodynamic testing regulations (ATR), teams that finished lower in the previous year's championship are granted more testing time, while those at the top receive less. As a result, McLaren, having finished 2023 in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, will have the most development time available among the top four teams. When asked how that could shape the rest of 2024, Stella told Formula1.com:

“In terms of the ATR, I’m not sure. Effectively Red Bull have taken trackside more developments so far, in terms of physical parts delivered when you look at the submission, than what we have done.

“But definitely, I can talk for McLaren, we seem to now be in condition to cash in some of this development that we have accrued, and I would expect that for the second part of the season we will have at multiple times some new parts.”

Stella expressed his astonishment at how a single significant upgrade has dramatically enhanced the team's performance, leading to Lando Norris's first Grand Prix victory in Miami. While a big upgrade is not a part of the plan, he assured that "new parts" would be introduced to the car in the upcoming Grands Prix. He added:

“In a way I’m surprised that we’ve been so competitive, considering that from Miami onwards we haven’t actually brought trackside many new parts.

“So it means that obviously the Miami upgrade was big, but there’s some upgrades that will come in the second part of the season.”