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McLaren chief admits concerns over 2024 F1 car

The MCL38 may still require a great deal of work after its launch

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Tuesday 23 January 2024 21:57

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has admitted that the team may not have fixed all the issues with their 2023 car before the 2024 season kicks off.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri languished near the bottom of the standings at the start of last season, but a mid-season upgrade launched them into relevance, putting them in the fight for podium positions with Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin.

However, the MCL60 was noticeably at the mercy of certain track layouts, with Piastri and Norris occasionally struggling for pace in qualifying and races later in the year.

The MCL60 improved remarkably as the 2023 season progressed

Yet some qualifying performances raised concerns over the car's reliability when on the edge

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And Stella has now revealed that the team were looking at the trade-off in race pace versus qualifying performance, something that McLaren are not certain has been entirely ironed out heading into 2024.

Stella: McLaren launch car may still need work

"We definitely questioned ourselves – whether we had made the car quicker, but somehow slightly more difficult to be exploited when you go to the limit in qualifying," he told Motorsport.com.

“We think that definitely there’s some areas that we could have looked into, and they affect the aerodynamics side.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella will be eager to get on top of the issue as quickly as possible

And Stella went on to admit that not all the fruits of their labour will be felt when the car rolls down the garage for the first time in 2024.

“Some of the benefits may be embedded onto the launch car," he added. "But actually some of the projects belong to a workstream that may land trackside with some other developments.

“Some things require a few months to be addressed, let’s say.”

McLaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Andrea Stella