McLaren team boss Andrea Stella believes that Red Bull could face pressure once new advancements are incorporated into the MCL38 during the 2024 season. The 2024 car was unveiled on Wednesday ahead of a test run at Silverstone, before heading to Bahrain for pre-season testing. However, Stella cautioned in his press release that certain innovations were not yet ready for the initial launch of the car. Consequently, he anticipates that closing the gap to Red Bull will be a challenge at the start of the season, but remains optimistic that McLaren’s development progress thus far will enable them to bridge the divide over the course of the year.
“At the beginning of the season, I expect Red Bull to maintain an advantage,” Stella stated. “This is because they did not heavily develop their car last year, and it is reasonable to assume that they have acquired knowledge and made developments that will be utilized in the 2024 car. That is my expectation.”
“However,” he continued, “if we can maintain the same rate of development that we had in 2023… then I believe we can position ourselves strongly. Whether this will be enough to challenge Red Bull and the other top teams, who have undoubtedly made significant improvements, remains to be seen. We believe that our development rate is strong, but it is now our responsibility to consolidate our progress over time.”
Stella expressed no concerns about the parts that were not yet ready for the car’s testing phase, assuring that McLaren will be able to introduce them in due course. He explained that these areas primarily focus on enhancing aerodynamic performance, improving the mechanical aspects, and optimizing tire interaction.
“While I won’t delve into specifics, these areas pertain to improving the aerodynamics, mechanics, and tire interactions,” Stella clarified. “There are a few projects that we had initiated and recognized their potential, but unfortunately, we were unable to finalize them in time for the launch car. Therefore, they will likely be implemented as updates during the early part of the season.”
Regarding the innovations, Stella clarified, “It’s not that the innovations were excluded, but rather some development projects did not reach completion. When undertaking development projects, the objective is to deliver them as soon as possible. However, there is ample room in the car’s design to incorporate these projects at a later stage. There are no layout restrictions preventing some of them from being implemented. It simply depends on the time required for the projects to mature and be ready for implementation.”
According to the Source racer.com