McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is optimistic about the MCL38’s development in the second half of 2024
The first thirteen rounds of the year have seen McLaren establish themselves as Championship contenders. The upgrade package introduced in Miami catapulted the Woking-based team to the front, erasing Red Bull’s early advantage. After a relative lull in recent weeks, McLaren have a sequence of important upgrades in the pipeline.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have one victory each this year, with both drivers claiming their first Grand Prix successes.
However, McLaren have frankly underachieved by taking just two wins in 2024.
The MCL38 has been capable of taking far more silverware. Only poor strategy and lacklustre operational execution have prevented McLaren from claiming better results.
Luckily for Andrea Stella’s team, there are ten more rounds to compensate for previous mistakes.
Their 1-2 finish in Hungary is indicative of what is possible with a clean weekend, while the team’s messy weekend in Belgium outlined their limitations.
Upgrades arriving to the MCL38
Andrea Stella is optimistic about what McLaren can achieve in the upcoming months:
“I’m surprised that we’ve been so competitive, considering that from Miami onwards, we haven’t actually brought trackside many new parts.
“Obviously, the Miami upgrade was big, but there’s some upgrades that will come in the second part of the season.
“I would expect that for the second part of the season, we will have, at multiple times, some new parts.
“Red Bull have taken more trackside developments so far, in terms of physical parts delivered, than we have.
“But we’re now in a position to cash in some of the developments that we have accused on the ground.”
In some ways, McLaren might be kicking themselves for their delayed development at the start of last season.
The Woking-based operation missed their upgrade targets in the 2022-23 winter break, compromising their trajectory until updates finally arrived in Austria.
Still, even with these hiccups, McLaren have recovered to produce the fastest car on the grid.
Perhaps most importantly for the papaya team, the MCL38 performs well across a variety of track conditions and circuit configurations.
If their next set of upgrades are even moderately effective, McLaren can consolidate themselves as the team to beat.
With Sergio Perez struggling to secure results, another step forward from Stella’s squad could see them take the Championship lead.
However, as the last few months have shown, the pecking order can change quickly in F1.
Mercedes are on the resurgence, and Ferrari are still within touching distance – despite their setbacks.
The hyper-competitive nature at the front will force McLaren to polish their errors and execute on all levels.
