McLaren’s 2023 Formula 1 season already seems to be off to an uphill start. The British team immediately had to deal with some problems that led them to reinforce some components to avoid breakdowns, but that’s not all.
Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri didn’t seem at ease behind the wheel of the MCL60, although the lap times shouldn’t be taken as proof as they are only tests.
These difficulties, however, are not entirely a surprise. Already at the presentation, the new team principal Andrea Stella had admitted that he was not entirely satisfied with the new single-seater, at least in its launch version.
To make the picture clearer, but also more alarming, here are the words arrived today by Zak Brown. McLaren’s chief executive has admitted the car is further behind where it should have been.
“It’s difficult to know exactly where we are, at least until the season starts,” he told Motorsport.com. “We know we’ve set some development goals that we haven’t met, and we felt it was appropriate to be honest about it.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“Like everyone, we also have many developments in store. So we are encouraged by what we can have available. I think we will arrive at the first race outside our expected targets, but it is difficult to know where we will be on the starting grid.”
Oscar Piastri himself, a rookie in Formula 1 but who had the opportunity to drive both the MCL60 and the MCL36, i.e. last year’s single-seater, declared: “The new car is a small step forward compared to last year’s. We know we have some things in the pipeline that we hope to achieve early in the season, but for now I think we will have a car with similar potential to last season, at least based on my limited experience.”
Zak Brown, however, relaunched the team’s ambitions: “Our aspirations are to return to the top. We know it will still take some time. All the technological infrastructures are already ready or will be completed this year. It is something really exciting.”
“We have some good developments on the way, but the same goes for all the other F1 teams. We need to pick up our pace,” concluded Brown.
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