Andrea Stella never betrays his technical training. The McLaren team principal is very analytical and provides detailed answers to any questions. However, a form of prudence aimed at not wanting to create too many expectations is never lacking. McLaren is in a very different situation today compared to twelve months ago, and the goals are there to prove it.
According to Stella, the first phase of the season will still see Red Bull as the team to beat, but with the arrival of developments he does not hide the fact that he can dream of something important. Everything will depend on the pace at which the renewed Woking structure manages to improve the MCL38, if the pace is that seen last season, then excellent news could arrive for Norris and Piastri in the second half of the championship.
You confirmed that you weren't able to pack all the new features you had planned into the car. When will they arrive and what areas do they concern?
“These are innovations that aim to improve aerodynamic performance with an impact also on the mechanical front and in the interaction with the tyres. Some projects that we had started, and whose potential was verified, we were unable to finalize in time to have them on the launch machine. So they will most likely become updates that you will see in the first part of the season.”
During the presentation of Aston Martin Dan Fallows stated that Red Bull is absolutely beatable. Taking into account that last year you preceded Aston Martin in the constructors' championship, do you think your car could be able to fight with Red Bull or do you think the objective is to get as close as possible?
“Personally I believe that in the initial phase of the season Red Bull will continue to have a bit of an advantage. I say this because last year they did not develop the car much, immediately focusing on the 2024 project. After this premise, looking at ourselves, if – and I underline if – we maintain the rate of development that we had in 2023, I think we can be in a strong position. We'll find out whether this will be enough to challenge Red Bull and the other top teams who will certainly have made good improvements.”
Why did you present a single-seater by publishing only a few retouched photos? Are there so many secrets that you will have to hide for next week?
“We recently saw some presentations that recalled the launch of the single-seater we did last year. But sometimes there is also the desire to keep a lower profile, let's say that these are approaches that alternate a little over time. In our case we went from last year's glamorous one to this year's one, which is low profile. It's not just about technical or operational aspects, but also about marketing. Formula 1 is a big business, it's not just the technical aspect, and we have to take all these requirements into account.”
McLaren MCL38
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Photo credit: McLaren
McLaren MCL38
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Detail McLaren MCL38
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Detail McLaren MCL38
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Detail McLaren MCL38
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Detail McLaren MCL38
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MCL38 FRONT
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McLaren MCL38
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McLaren MCL38
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McLaren MCL38
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MCL38
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Lando Norris, McLaren
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Oscar Piastri, McLaren
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Last year the performances of the teams behind Red Bull were very close. Do you think we will see this close match again this season?
“Based on what we've seen in the first photographs of the new cars, the shapes seem to be starting to converge. At the same time, a lot of the performance is actually in the details, the fact that the cars start to look alike doesn't always mean that the performances will converge. But this could be an important first factor, and personally I expect some convergence. The other element is that over time the budget cap seems to start to have an effect in terms of a level playing field, and I also add the aerodynamic restrictions. So we hope that these regulations allow us to create a level playing field, a scenario that makes our sport more fun and competitive in terms of results.”
How many benefits have the new production facilities and the wind tunnel already brought to the 2024 project?
“The MCL38 is certainly the first car to benefit from the new structures. This is a car that was entirely developed in the new wind tunnel and entirely produced in the new McLaren composites plant. And also as regards the other parts, we are evolving the mechanical workshop, also in this case the metal parts come from some of the new machines we have available. We can see that this has made the manufacturing process more efficient overall, which is an advantage from a time point of view because you can make the parts faster and with less cost.”
You pointed out that some of the new features you have studied were not finalized in time, but will arrive soon. Do you believe that in 2024 you will have the margin for improvement that we saw last year?
“In the last two years we have seen quite fast progress, especially in aerodynamic development. But I believe that in 2024 towards the end of the season it will become more difficult for designers to maintain a high pace of development. This is why I said before that we can be competitive if we manage to maintain the pace of development that we have experienced in the last 12 months.”
How ready do you feel to face the season compared to last year? And what is the upgrade schedule during 2024?
“In terms of preparation, what I can say is that we will find out where we are once we get the car on track properly, we will see if there is the step forward that we want, the hope is to maintain the momentum that we started to have last year in Austria and consolidated in Singapore. In terms of developments, there is also the aspect linked to the budget, upgrades must be carefully planned because it can happen that the limit becomes financial rather than technical”.
In which performance areas do you believe the 2024 car has made progress?
“We have set ourselves three main objectives. The first was to improve aerodynamic efficiency, the second was to improve mechanical grip and the third was to improve interaction with the tyres. I would say that we have managed to improve all of these areas, although, as I said, we know that there is potential improvement in each of these three areas.”
McLaren MCL38
Photo by: McLaren
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