McLaren team principal says the team are happy with their consistency in the first half of the 2024 season despite some missed opportunities.
McLaren have enjoyed a strong first half of the 2024 Formula 1 season, with the Woking based squad currently occupying P2 in the constructors standings and closing in on leaders Red Bull. The team’s strong development cycle, beginning midway through 2023, has been a key aspect of their success this season.
Speaking to the media, team principal Andrea Stella eluded that there is still more to come from the marque, claiming that they have yet to put many resources into developing the lower speed performance of the MCL38.
“I think we have gone 50% of the journey.” Stella said of the team’s development cycle. “I’m more confident that at high downforce we have the car in a good place, the car does what we want, especially in terms of aerodynamic behaviour, but we haven’t yet done a lot of development at lower drag level.
“So to me it’s not a surprise that here in Belgium we were not as competitive as Hungary. And it’s not a surprise that for the same, or a little bit better top speed, still we were losing quite a bit in the second sector. It means that if we want to gain speed, we give up quite a lot of grip.
“I hope that in the future, possibly next year in Belgium, we have completed this quest to have the most efficient car even when top speed is important.”
Speaking on the team’s performance at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, Stella noted that, despite coming away with 28 points and a 9 point gain on rivals Red Bull, there were errors which cost the team making greater gains.
“I think for me,” Stella said following the Belgian Grand Prix. “The main opportunity, yes, you can identify some cases in which if we had a perfect weekend, then I would say that potentially yesterday we could have qualified one or two positions ahead. I don’t think we could beat Red Bull yesterday. We didn’t have enough grip to do so.
“Then today with the little issue with Lando lap one, the little issue at the pit stop, the reality is that nobody has a perfect event. It’s just impossible.”
The Italian went on to applaud McLaren’s consistency, having stood on 11 of 14 podiums so far this season. He also made note that prior to the Grand Prix he was unsure if the team would be able to take advantage of Red Bull’s issues in order to narrow the gap.
“I think we are actually quite satisfied with the level of consistency and robustness we have as a team. You know, like the only team where the drivers have scored points at every single event. Mega reliability so far.
“I’ve lost the counting of how many points in a row, maybe 10, 10 podiums in a row. So many opportunities to do better, but the big picture is of a very strong and consistent team.
“This should be remarked. Today, in the way the race unfolded, it’s still important that we gain points on Red Bull, because if you had told me before the race are you going to gain points on Red Bull, I’m not so sure. I was expecting Verstappen to come through. And if you see last year’s race, Perez finished something like 10 seconds, 15 seconds from Verstappen for a 1-2. We gained [9] points, [42] now behind. I take the positive, and we keep working on the opportunities.“
