After the summer break, McLaren boss Andrea Stella argued his team could win every race left in 2024. “Why not? We have to believe it is possible.” Although Leclerc’s Monza victory dashed these hopes, Norris’ dominant victory in Singapore explained some of Stella’s conviction. In the next six rounds, McLaren aim to make potentially season-defining progress.
Aggressive development plan to be implemented by McLaren
For the majority of 2024, McLaren have been the team to beat. Upgrades in Miami unlocked approximately 3 tenths per lap for the MCL38, with subsequent modifications generating additional gains.
In combination with the mistakes made at Red Bull and Ferrari, these updates revolutionised McLaren’s season.
However, this is not the only positive development for the Woking-based team. Over the last few months, the other front-runners have been working intensely to bring upgrades to track as soon as possible.
After Red Bull’s Hungary updates failed to deliver, various solutions have been tested by the Milton Keynes. A variety of different floor combinations and set-up variants were tested in the rounds after the summer break.
These ‘experiments’ were designed to give Red Bull a baseline to build upon for the final six rounds.
For all intents and purposes, these tests were successful. The RB20 made a step forward in Singapore, and an update package is due this weekend.
Andrea Stella’s team have more performance to tap into
Luckily for McLaren, they still have a significant cushion (in terms of performance) over the defending Champions. Moreover, they also have a considerable stockpile of upgrades ready.
In fact, several updates have been kept reserve until this stage. As McLaren have worked to avoid the development pitfalls suffered by rivals, their approach since the summer break has been relatively cautious.
This is set to change in the coming weeks, with upgrades likely to arrive on the MCL38 at a more rapid rate. Perhaps most significantly, Andrea Stella’s personnel can be far more confident about their trajectory than other teams.
McLaren’s development in 2024 has been almost faultless, with improvements delivering immediate and predictable impact.
As F1 enters the 19th round of the season in COTA (a Sprint weekend), the British squad can be confident about their aerodynamic platform.
