McLaren are having a terrific season and for the first time in decades look like a genuine title contender.
Credit needs to go to CEO Zak Brown for his leadership although he’s been quick to praise how well team principal Andrea Stella has performed in his new role.
A report from The Race has been dissecting one of the most impressive aspects of McLaren’s resurgence – their consistently excellent upgrade packages.
Starting at the Austrian Grand Prix in 2023, McLaren have taken step forward after step forward in performance with every new part or new design that’s been installed on the car.
The Miami Grand Prix was the venue of McLaren’s first upgrade package of 2024 and the team saw an unexpected benefit that their simulators didn’t pick up.
They’ll be delighted with the result as they watched Lando Norris secure his maiden Formula 1 victory.
All eyes are on their papaya-coloured – or in Monaco, Senna-themed – cars to see just how close to Red Bull they can get this season.
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McLaren have witnessed an ‘unseen benefit’ for their latest upgrade package
It spoke volumes about how good a job McLaren were doing behind the scenes in Miami when Oscar Piastri benefitted from a chaotic first corner.
The Australian only had half of the upgrade package on his car, but comfortably sat in 2 place behind Max Verstappen before a poorly-timed pit stop – and collision with Carlos Sainz – scuppered his race.
Norris benefitted from the timing of the safety car that day and despite a shaky restart pulled away from Verstappen’s Red Bull to take a comfortable victory.
Everyone’s attention turned to Imola to see whether McLaren’s victory was a one-off or if they had overtaken Ferrari in the pecking order.
Oscar Piastri had the full upgrade package and were it not for a three-place grid penalty and a fortunate tow for Verstappen from good friend Nico Hulkenberg, he would have been on pole position.
The Australian was hampered by how difficult it was to overtake on track and ended up finishing 4, while Norris nearly got the better of his Dutch rival, closing to within a second of Verstappen at the chequered flag.
McLaren are now seeing the benefit of the driver’s having an improved level of confidence in the car since the upgrade package was delivered which means they’ve progressed even more than their simulations suggested.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration
McLaren growing in confidence heading to the Monaco Grand Prix
The report from The Race provides more details about how McLaren’s latest upgrade package has been delivered.
They suggest that ‘intangible’ benefits are only discovered once the car is on track with simulations and wind tunnel tests only telling teams so much.
You only have to ask Mercedes about the lack of correlation between what happens in the factory and the paddock given their struggles over the last couple of years.
McLaren’s data has matched what the simulation tools have told them about their newly developed parts, but the additional benefit of the latest upgrade package has been the confidence it’s created in their drivers.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
Norris and Piastri appear to feel more comfortable with the car underneath them, allowing them to push harder in areas that the simulator wouldn’t have anticipated.
The result of the Monaco Grand Prix is typically decided on the Saturday by qualifying given how nearly impossible it is to overtake on the narrow street circuit.
Based on their performances in Imola, Norris and Piastri will be going into the weekend full of confidence.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc appear to be their closest rivals and may have to produce some of the best laps of their careers to defeat the McLaren drivers.
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