McLaren dreams of a podium and progress: “Ferrari is not far”

McLaren started the year without much fanfare, following what it did in 2023 but with a better start to the season. FOR Suzuka in qualifying he was also able to win the front row and Lando Norris, however paying a price in comparison with Ferrari in the race. The papaya is currently the third best car on the grid, ahead of Mercedes and other cars with engines from the German company. In 2023 updates made the MCL60 a complete machine, capable of attacking the platform several times. The goal of Andrea Stella, the head of the McLaren team, is to repeat this evolution also in 2024, moving closer to Ferrari and the arrival of the first major development, expected for Miami. A development that the team had to wait for longer than needed last year, also because of the difficult financial situation.

McLaren returns the challenge with Ferrari

McLaren currently sits third in the constructors’ standings with 69 points, 51 points behind Ferrari, which it has managed to bring home, along with podiums, wins and doubles in Melbourne. The comparison between the two teams is still very much based on Ferrari which has proved to be shaky in qualifying but stronger in the race, where the points count. Andrea Stella, however, wants to build a base as he believes Ferrari is within reach, especially with an updated McLaren.

In an interview with F1 Nation following the weekend in Japan the team principal then expressed his opinion: “So far it seems that we have lost this fight (with Ferrari), but we are working hard to be more competitive next time. Ferrari are not far behind, they are only a tenth behind us. I think this year will be a battle for progress, because these cars can provide better performance thanks to the development. I can say that is the main goal for us. We should have a good set of updates in Miami. Even if it’s a Sprint weekend, we’ll definitely try to keep them up.”

Regarding the Suzuka race where McLaren finished fifth with Lando Norris and eighth with Oscar Piastri, Stella admitted that he had other ambitions: “Our ambition was to finish on the podium. We tried to finish on the podium because we stopped first with Lando to make sure we maintained the position, but in the end we didn’t have enough speed to maintain the track position.”

Source information: F1