McLaren MCL38 Secret Details

McLaren F1’s MCL38 Launch: Secrets Unveiled

15/02/2024

McLaren F1 has admitted to concealing details in the photos of its MCL38, hiding secrets not even revealed during its track appearance at Silverstone.

McLaren outlined the reasons behind opting for a “discreet” launch, concealing elements of their new 2024 F1 car.

Unlike some of their competitors, and in contrast to last season, McLaren’s unveiling of the MCL38 was notably low-key.

Images of the livery were released in January, followed by only a handful of photos of the new car during the official launch on Wednesday. The images were deliberately altered to obscure certain secrets, particularly regarding the floor.

McLaren has yet to share photos of their F1 car during its shakedown at Silverstone, posting only brief video clips on social media.

When asked about the reasoning behind this approach and whether McLaren had many secrets to hide, Lando Norris responded with irony, “Because we can.”

“It’s a performance game, and why would you want to give anything away to our rivals? You’ll see what the car looks like in two weeks, so be patient.”

McLaren vs Red Bull: Launch Tactics Clash

His teammate, Oscar Piastri, jokingly added, “At least we showed our car before it hit the track. Unlike some.”

Piastri was referring to Red Bull, which took its RB20 out on Tuesday, two days before its official launch.

“We’ve seen recently that teams have chosen to have a certain style for launching the car, like we did last year, with a live show,” said Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal.

“But we also see that sometimes you might want to opt for more discretion in your car’s launch. I guess these approaches can alternate over time. We’ve moved from last year’s glamour to discretion this year.”

“It’s not just technical; it’s also marketing and business. F1 is a big business, it’s not just technical, and we need to consider all these different approaches.”

When asked how similar the showcased car was to the one at Silverstone the day before, Stella replied, “Quite close. I wouldn’t prepare for anything too shocking at Bahrain. But yes, at least one detail was obscured in the photos. Nothing major.”

Piastri then humorously added, “We’re coming to the first race with rockets on the sidepods!”

McLaren MCL38 Secret Details. McLaren MCL38 Secret Details

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Full 2025 F1 testing results

Carlos Sainz
1
CARLOS
SAINZ
Leader
Lewis Hamilton
2
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+0.031s
Charles Leclerc
3
CHARLES
LECLERC
+0.083s
George Russell
4
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+0.197s
Max Verstappen
5
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.218s
Alex Albon
6
ALEX
ALBON
+0.302s
Kimi Antonelli
7
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+0.436s
Oscar Piastri
8
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+0.592s
Pierre Gasly
9
PIERRE
GASLY
+0.692s
Lance Stroll
10
LANCE
STROLL
+0.881s
Liam Lawson
11
LIAM
LAWSON
+0.904s
Jack Doohan
12
JACK
DOOHAN
+1.020s
Yuki Tsunoda
13
YUKI
TSUNODA
+1.149s
Isack Hadjar
14
ISACK
HADJAR
+1.327s
Fernando Alonso
15
FERNANDO
ALONSO
+1.352s
Esteban Ocon
16
ESTEBAN
OCON
+1.380s
Lando Norris
17
LANDO
NORRIS
+1.534s
Gabriel Bortoleto
18
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
+1.709s
Nico Hulkenberg
19
NICO
HULKENBERG
+2.109s
Oliver Bearman
20
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+3.013s

Testing Total Distance Covered by Team

1
Mercedes
458
2
Haas
457
3
Racing Bulls
454
4
Alpine
405
5
Williams
395
6
Ferrari
382
7
McLaren
381
8
Sauber
354
9
Aston Martin
306
10
Red Bull
304
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Australian GP
13 Mar - 16 Mar
FP1
14 MAR 01:30
FP2
14 MAR 05:00
FP3
15 MAR 01:30
QU
15 MAR 05:00
RACE
16 MAR 04:00
F1 CALENDAR 2025
Race
Date
Australian Flag
Australian
Albert Park
16 Mar
Chinese Flag
Chinese
Shanghai International
23 Mar
Japanese Flag
Japanese
Suzuka Circuit
6 Apr
Bahrain Flag
Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
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Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
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