F1 legend reveals SURPRISE team set for 2024 success

F1 Speculation

F1 legend reveals SURPRISE team set for 2024 success

Believes they have a real chance of challenging Red Bull

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 22 December 2023 12:57 Updated: 15:26

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Former Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan has said that he believes McLaren could cause a 'big surprise' in 2024, as the race to catch Red Bull hots up.

The Woking-based team saw an incredible turnaround throughout the 2023 season, going from being one of the slowest cars on the grid at the start of the season to challenging for podiums at almost every race in the second half of the season.

By the end of the year, star driver Lando Norris was establishing himself as Max Verstappen's closest challenger as the Red Bull man dominated the field.

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Young Australian Oscar Piastri was also one of only two non-Red Bull drivers to win a race of any kind throughout 2023.

Racing driver Jessica Hawkins even said at the end of the year that Red Bull were 'lucky' that McLaren were so slow at the start of the season, believing that they could have challenged the Milton Keynes-based outfit for the constructors' championship.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri formed a brilliant partnership in 2023

Oscar Piastri beat Max Verstappen to sprint race glory in Qatar, as well as finishing on the podium in the main race

Eddie Jordan believes McLaren could surprise in 2024

McLaren seeking race wins

Heading into a season where McLaren need to prove that they can provide both Piastri and Norris with a race-winning car, Jordan has said that he has belief that the team can surprise a few people.

“Beyond any doubt,” Jordan said in agreement with David Coulthard who had called McLaren a 'breath of fresh air' during the Formula for Success podcast.

“And you know, again, there’s a team that I was tough against, some of the things that they did in the past I was critical about and I’ve made my opinion clear.

“Similarly, I will make my opinion clear about the season they’ve just had and that was exactly it, the breath of fresh air, exactly right.

“Oscar for me was sensational. For a rookie like that to come in and do what he did against somebody with the outstanding talent of Lando Norris, and we all know about how quick he is, the car has to be very nicely balanced.

“And they in my opinion, will be a big surprise next year to most people.”