Rival F1 team aim to emulate 'ROLE MODELS' McLaren

McLaren

Rival F1 team aim to emulate 'ROLE MODELS' McLaren

McLaren have enjoyed an enormous surge in form following a disappointing start to the season

Joe Ellis

Tuesday 8 August 2023 14:57

Haas have put the McLaren team on a pedestal as 'role models', according to current driver Nico Hulkenberg, as the team tries to surge up the F1 grid.

The American team have been one of the weaker outfits in F1 this season despite a handful of standout qualifying efforts from Hulkenberg.

Poor race pace has seen very few points scored all year and they now sit behind Williams in the constructors' standings.

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But McLaren's turnaround from midfielder to front-runner mid-season gives them inspiration to do the same after the summer break.

Steiner: We will be as strong as they are

Guenther Steiner and Nico Hulkenberg both agree that McLaren are the benchmark for performance

"McLaren showed the way," Hulkenberg said, as per Motorsport-Magazin. "At the beginning of the season they were still driving behind us in Saudi Arabia, but they turned it around with massive updates.

"They have to be our role models. Our engineers and aerodynamicists are of course responsible for finding and doing something."

Guenther Steiner agrees with his driver and he has already instructed his team of engineers to try and copy McLaren's rise.

"I told my engineers to follow McLaren as an example. Next week we will be as strong as they are," Steiner added.

"We haven't done what McLaren has done yet. Many teams bring upgrades without improving much."