System 1 | McLaren F1 aims to overtake Ferrari thanks to its development

McLaren F1 is currently third in the field: behind Red Bull and Ferrari, but ahead of Mercedes F1 and Aston Martin F1.

Could it be the power of 2 and the next development? We remember that from Austria last year, Woking experienced an impressive increase in leadership.

This year, Andrea Stella, the team director, hopes to repeat such a performance: certainly McLaren F1 does not start that far, but the 2nd power position is open to the “Italian team”.

“We are satisfied to confirm our third place in these first four races of the season. We have the third best car, and that is reflected in the championship points. »

“So this is a good step, for many reasons. The most important thing for me is that somehow we have consolidated the path that McLaren started 12 months ago. »

“But it’s a step. It’s the beginning of further improving the car, which is certainly important if you want to stay third – because the cars behind us won’t just look. »

“But I would like to say that we are looking forward. We consider that Ferrari is not too far away, and we know that we have the potential in the development of our car. »

“So that’s the race we want to do this year – like last year, the development race, and we’ll see at the end of the season who did the best job. »

Progress is coming to Miami

After overhauling its car for the first race in Bahrain, McLaren F1 is now targeting the Grand Prix in Miami (after China), to bring its next big package.

Andrea Stella is not too happy however: Miami will be a ‘sprint’ weekend (like China). Not ideal for starting development, with only an hour of free trial and the risk of crashes…

“I hope we can take the progress to Miami. Even though it’s a short race weekend, I think the performance opportunity we have is worth considering – even for this type of weekend. »

“That’s what we did last year in Austria, and it’s very likely that we’ll do it this year in Miami. Once we see the level of performance we can add there, we’ll think more realistically about what we can do this season. »