Christian Horner now ‘expects’ one thing from McLaren during the 2024 season after the Formula 1 team ‘followed’ his Red Bull outfit’s design with their recent upgrades.
Red Bull have been the class of the field since F1 re-adopted ground-effect cars in 2022. But McLaren are now pushing the team from Milton Keynes to their limits. The Woking outfit are reaping the rewards from their hard work to turn their MCL38 into a race-winning machine.
McLaren unveiled their first batch of major upgrades at the Miami GP and saw Lando Norris win. The 24-year-old stood on the top step of a Formula 1 podium for the first time after his team debuted effectively a B-spec car. Oscar Piastri did not receive the full set of upgrades.
Christian Horner ‘expects’ McLaren will challenge Red Bull at every race in 2024
Norris got a new front wing, floor, front suspension geometry, front brake duct and winglet, bodywork and engine covers in Miami as McLaren strived to improve the characteristics of their car’s front end. McLaren only added race-specific upgrades at the Emilia Romagna GP.
But the changes McLaren made at Imola allowed Norris to threaten Max Verstappen for the win. The Briton took advantage of the 26-year-old’s inferior tyre life to finish the race a mere 0.725 seconds from a second victory. Norris even felt the win was on offer with an extra lap.
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Now, having seen Norris beat Verstappen in a straight fight after the safety car at the Miami GP and McLaren threaten Red Bull at the Emilia Romagna GP, Horner ‘expects’ the teams to fight throughout the rest of this year. He also feels McLaren have copied Red Bull’s design.
“In the last few races, McLaren were our main opponent,” Horner noted, via Speedweek. “I would say that they have definitely improved the performance of their vehicle.
“They are following a similar path to our development direction, and you can see that they have been able to take a step forward.
“However, we have recently been at tracks that didn’t suit our car’s strengths. But we expect McLaren to be competitive on all courses.”
Red Bull relied on fine margins to beat McLaren at the Emilia Romagna GP
McLaren took the most inspiration from Red Bull with the design of their upgraded sidepods and are not alone. Ferrari also took inspiration from Red Bull with the upgrades the Scuderia unveiled at the Emilia Romagna GP. Those revisions improve the overall airflow of their cars.
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Red Bull will now hope Formula 1 heading to circuits Horner feels suit the RB20 more will be enough to stay in front of McLaren. Piastri was just 0.074 seconds slower than Verstappen in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna GP, with Norris also only 0.017s from his teammate in Q3.
Had Piastri not received a three-place grid penalty for impeding in qualifying or if Norris did not come out behind Sergio Perez following his pit stop in the race, McLaren may have had a better chance to beat Red Bull to win the Emilia Romagna GP given all of their tight margins.
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