McLaren playing catch-up after cutting too deep, missing F1 design tricks

“We want to be in the top four by the end of the year, last year was a bit disappointing,” said Brown on Friday. “Our aspirations are to get back to the front, we know that will take a little bit more time.

“All the technology infrastructure is either in or going to be pretty much completed this year. So that’s quite exciting. And we have some good developments coming, but so does every other single team in F1. So we need to we need to pick up the pace.”

Regarding the new car he added: “We know we set some goals for development, which we didn’t hit, and we felt it was better to be honest about that. We like everyone have a lot of development coming, so we are encouraged by what we see around the corner.

“But I think we will be going into the first race off of our projected targets, and it’s hard to really know where that means will be on the grid.”

“Aerodynamic efficiency is not where we would like it to be [for us] to be a top four contender”

It’s not all bad news – the team did hit some targets, but missed arguably the most important one, which is of course aero.

“Last year, we had some clear objectives in terms of development,” said new team principal Andrea Stella. “They had to do with aerodynamic efficiency, some development related to the exploitation of the tyres, and tyre usage. And also some other objectives to improve the balance.

“The reality is that most of these objectives have actually been met. But the objective in terms of aerodynamic efficiency of the car, that’s the one where we are still shy of what was our target, I would say.

“Aerodynamic efficiency is still not where we would like it to be, or where we would like it to be [for us] to be a top four contender. So I would say that’s the one in which we are still short.”

On the plus side McLaren came to Bahrain this week with modest expectations, a situation that is probably easier to manage than arriving with a car that you believe will propel you into the top three battle, and then fails to deliver.

“I think based on what I’ve seen in these two days, our performance is pretty much where I expected it to be,” said Stella at the end of Friday running.

“No surprises, the data correlates with what we were expecting from an aerodynamic point of view. We know we have work to do. But the season is long, there can be variations in the competitive order. And like I said already in the car launch, we know there’s a good development rate.

“That’s where we are focusing. So I think the start we will have to be realistic. But in terms of looking ahead to the season, we remain optimistic.”

McLaren’s “aggressive development” plan

Stella insisted that he had good reason to be bullish, as he knows what is in the pipeline. It simply takes time to get the new bits onto the car.

“In F1, what you have right now trackside is material that you had two or three months ago in development,” he explained. “So the good news is that we have good development streams going on.

“They will land trackside in some weeks. Obviously, when you know that you have good development ongoing, you kind of realise, ‘Ah, maybe our competitors already have it.’ So it’s a reference to yourself.

“This game is very competitive. If you slow down in terms of development rate, you can’t assume it happens the same to others. So that’s why you see me not necessarily most optimistic now, but rather more optimistic for what’s coming in the season.”

One of McLaren’s weaknesses in recent years is that is has relied on the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. Splitting your resources across two countries and renting someone else’s facility is never the most effective way of doing things, hence the huge investment in the new Woking tunnel that will come on stream later this year.

Cost cap cuts went too deep

Intriguingly Stella now admits that McLaren cut back too heavily on aero staff as it tried to adjust for the cost cap, and is now increasing the head count once more.

“The aerodynamics of an F1 car are one of the most complex engineering projects that you can see on the planet,” he explained. “So it’s quite challenging, it requires top facilities, it requires expertise that you need to develop over the years. So I wouldn’t say there’s a specific deficit in some areas, it’s more complex, there are various reasons.

“We keep mentioning the technology, the lack of the wind tunnel. We keep mentioning that from a manpower point of view or workforce point of view, we do have to expand the aerodynamic group.

“We went through a phase of contraction, we have now changed this tendency.

“And then you have to keep building. Like if you see some top teams, if you see Red Bull, they have kept developing their expertise for a long time. And now they are in condition to respond to changes of regulations improving year by year. We have to improve in all areas, I would say.”

Stella admits that in effect those shortcomings meant that McLaren simply missed a trick or two that others found. Some tweaks McLaren found and realised that rivals had probably already got there, while others became evident when new cars were launched.

“I think that’s a topic on which I can’t disclose too many details,” said Stella when asked for specifics. “In general, let’s say that we realised probably late that there were some development directions that add more potential in terms of development rate, and also in terms of development over a longer period.

“But we didn’t realise that early enough for these development directions to be part of the launch specification of the car. The fact that you may assume that competitors have this level of development, like you look at some other cars, the geometry of the car is visible.

“So just looking at competitors, and also looking at yourself, as I said before, it’s not only relative to what you see in other cars is also like, ‘Ah we understand this direction now.’ And then you say we should have been there already a few months ago, let’s say.”

Teams often throw around the phrase “aggressive development,” and that’s certainly what the team needs to do now as it tries to make up lost ground.

“I think being aggressive is required,” Stella noted. “I think it can be intended from a timeline point of view, like you want to bring these upgrades as soon as possible, and also from a development rate point of view.

“We see that the game is incredibly competitive. I think F1 gets every year more and more competitive in terms of how many teams now have the facilities, the equipment, the people to develop cars at a very high rate. So yes, we have to be aggressive. If we want to meet our objective of being a top four car over the course of the season, we have to out-develop competitors. So we do have to be aggressive.”

As for McLaren’s potential form with the package it now has, it’s still too early to say.

“I think we will see again that the midfield is very compact,” said Stella. “And this means that if you don’t do a good enough job even in setting up and maximising what you have, you may struggle to get out of Q1. At the same time, you might be a Q3 contender.

“So I think the fork is relatively open is relatively wide. I think when I’m talking about competitiveness, I would say our objective through the season is to be a top four car. At the moment, I would say we are not necessarily in this range.”

All Norris and Piastri can do is remain patient and hope that the tunnel numbers transfer to the car – and that rivals don’t move the goalposts too far with their own development.