Andrea Stella, McLaren F1’s director, shares his optimism for the 2024 season. Focusing on advancements made during the winter, the team aims for significant progress, following a promising 2023.
Stella is pleased with the work done at Woking over the winter, preparing for a 2024 season that should see the team progress, following a very promising 2023 season.
The team unveiled its livery this Tuesday but still has to reveal its car on February 14th. Stella discusses the winter’s advancements.
McLaren’s Exciting Journey to 2024
“It’s always exciting to see the season approaching when you witness all the winter work coming together, when you see the parts arriving. We don’t have a car yet, but we now have a livery, which we like, and it’s an exciting time for everyone at McLaren,” notes Stella.
“It’s the same for all teams, but for us right now, the focus is on the work that needs to be done, on what we need to achieve, and continuing to tackle the challenges associated with building a F1 car. There are thousands of parts, and it’s always somewhat miraculous when you assemble everything, and it turns into a car.”
McLaren has developed well thanks to the new wind tunnel: “We have the tools, in terms of infrastructure. We discussed this topic last year, and these tools are being used to develop the car, the MCL38 was entirely developed here, in the wind tunnel of the McLaren Technology Centre.”
“We are testing the new car in the simulator and it’s very effective, we are seeing the benefits. And in terms of personnel, with the arrival of David Sanchez and Rob Marshall, we are adding strength to the team.”
“And we are working on integration, so that Rob and David meet everyone, and can assess how we work, particularly in terms of methodology, they look at the car and what’s coming, and these are significant additions that can come into play for 2024 and work on 2025.”
“Visible Elements” But Not Just Those
Stella explains that the new car, set to be unveiled on February 14th, will have significant developments, but not all differences will be noticeable to the naked eye. The Woking team primarily focused on improving every part of its car.
“It will be an innovative evolution, I would say. There will be areas of the car that innovate, with steps forward from the MCL60, but often in F1, it’s mainly about the small gains found on each part of the car.”
“There will be visibly distinct elements, but the aerodynamic progress and mechanical grip improvements, as well as the interaction with the tires, will come from many areas not necessarily visible on the car.”
McLaren’s Quest to Surpass Red Bull
Will this be enough to beat Red Bull? Stella hopes so and doesn’t want his team to plateau when bringing developments.
“The investment in resources should enable the team to continue the development momentum started last year, leading to the evolutions in Austria and Singapore. We don’t want to reach a plateau; we aim to keep progressing.”
“That’s what we’ve seemed capable of doing so far, and we need to invest in human resources, infrastructure, and continue developing expertise. McLaren is in a good situation, so we hope this will translate into results.”
“But the results will depend on what our competitors have done. For us, it will be important to see that we have managed to achieve our performance objectives, but also to improve operations. We’ll see on the track where we stand against our rivals.”
McLaren’s 2024 Season Preparation. McLaren F1 prepares for the 2024 season with progress from a promising 2023 season. Andrea Stella. McLaren’s 2024 Season Preparation. McLaren F1 prepares for the 2024 season with progress from a promising 2023 season. Andrea Stella.
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