McLaren unveiled a significant upgrade to their MCL38 for the grand prix in Miami, and Lando Norris capitalized on it to secure his first Formula 1 victory.
Since then, McLaren has been performing consistently, always in the mix, and their strong form suggests they could have won more races if not for some mishaps in execution.
Currently, the competition at the top is extremely tight between McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull. However, Red Bull faces a disadvantage in terms of the allotted time for Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions (ATR) due to their previous F1 Constructors’ Championship win in 2023.
ATR sets limits on the number of wind tunnel runs and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) work that each team can undertake. These limits are reduced for teams that finish higher in the Constructors’ Championship.
During a media interview, including GrandPrix247, after the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix and as F1 heads into the summer break, Stella was asked about McLaren’s plans to utilize their ATR advantage for the remainder of the season.
He responded, “Regarding the ATR, I’m uncertain. Red Bull has already brought more physical developments to the trackside than we have, based on the submissions. But for McLaren, we are now in a position to capitalize on the development we have accumulated and I anticipate that we will introduce several new parts in the second half of the season.”
“In a way, I’m surprised that we have been so competitive despite not introducing many new parts since Miami,” he added. “This suggests that the Miami upgrade was significant. There will be further upgrades in the second half of the season, yes.”
One area where McLaren may focus their ATR advantage is addressing the lack of efficiency of their car on low downforce tracks, a weakness they experienced in 2023.
When asked about their progress in solving this issue, Stella replied, “We have completed 50% of the journey. I am more confident in our car’s performance at high downforce levels, especially in terms of aerodynamic behavior.”
“However, we have not yet made significant progress in developing the car for lower drag levels. Therefore, it is not surprising that we were not as competitive in Belgium compared to Hungary, and it is understandable that we lost a considerable amount of time in the second sector despite having similar or slightly better top speed.”
“This means that if we want to gain speed, we will have to sacrifice a significant amount of grip. However, I hope that in the future, possibly by next year’s Belgian Grand Prix, we will have achieved our goal of having the most efficient car even when top speed is crucial,” Stella concluded.
McLaren currently sits in second place in the F1 Constructors’ Championship, trailing Red Bull Racing by 42 points.
