McLaren are now the undisputed benchmark in F1. The MCL38 has been the fastest car since early May, whilst recent upgrades in Zandvoort delivered another step forward. However, Ferrari’s triumph in Monza is a reminder that Andrea Stella’s team cannot take anything for granted. Another emerging dilemma for McLaren is they are uncertain about implementing their next updates.
McLaren unsure about next floor upgrade in the pipeline
The updates McLaren introduced immediately after the summer break were significant. They unlocked a few tenths per lap for the Woking-based team, increasing the gap to the struggling Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s RB20.
However, the team’s development strategy was not to rely on a single update. Instead, McLaren’s intention was to introduce more improvements progressively in the second half of 2024.
If well-executed, this would ensure steady progress and increase their advantage over the other front-runners. By extension, this would give Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri enough margin for error to secure victories more regularly.
With that said, a problem is emerging for the British outfit.
As Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari have experienced first-hand, bringing updates with this generation of cars is hugely risky. One mistake can destabilise a car’s aerodynamic platform and send a team into a negative spiral.
Ferrari’s victory in Monza was so important because it was the first time they introduced the upgrades intended to correct the issues created by their Spanish GP package.
Fred Vasseur’s team spent three months working to undo this mistake. Considering they are only 39 points behind Red Bull in the standings, the Italian squad could be leading the Championship if they’d avoided this unforced error.
This is the cautionary tale that has informed McLaren’s decision to hesitate with their next package. The factory in Woking, as reported by motorsport.com, has more updates ready to bring to the track.
However, team principal Andrea Stella admits they are nervous about potentially destabilising the MCL38:
“The next relevant upgrade, not as big as Miami, was in Zandvoort – and it didn’t involve the [full] floor – it was just a detail…
“There’s a reason why we haven’t brought some upgrades.
“Because we see that, had we pressed the go button, we might have had some doubts when these parts were tested full-scale on the real car.
“So we are taking our time to convince ourself that the development is mature [enough] to be taken trackside.”
Until now, McLaren have been faultless with their development programme in 2024. Upgrades have worked precisely as intended, with the team’s correlation from the wind tunnel to the track proving extremely accurate.
Because of this success, Norris and Piastri have a car capable of winning races at every circuit.
However, this does not guarantee that all future upgrades will improve. Despite the criticism surrounding Red Bull, it is not uncommon for teams to hit a development ceiling.
McLaren are desperate to avoid this scenario, which is why their progress could plateau for the next two race weekends. For now, the British team will focus on optimising their package and avoid dropping any more points with operational errors.
