Oscar Piastri’s McLaren squad is well and truly on the back foot heading into the first grand prix of the year.
Gremlins plagued the team in F1’s only pre-season test in Bahrain, and after three days they completed just 311 laps – far and away the fewest of any team. AlphaTauri by comparison topped the test with 456 laps.
Since switching away from Honda power units, first to Renault and now to Mercedes, McLaren’s target has been to be the best of the rest – to run fourth behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.
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But just a week out from the season opener, also in Bahrain, those at the top are keeping a lid on those expectations.
There’s a saying in F1 – if you’re not moving forwards, you’re moving backwards.
It might sound obvious, but continued development is crucial to success. And development at McLaren has hardly moved the squad forward.
“We didn’t take a step backwards. We just didn’t develop fast enough,” team principal Andrea Stella said.
“Last year, we had some clear objectives in terms of development.
“They had to do with aerodynamic efficiency; some development related to the exploitation of the tyres, 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.”
In layman’s terms, what Stella is saying is the car produces plenty of downforce, but also produces plenty of drag. It means the car might be stable and quick in corners, but is dog slow in a straight line.
To speed it up in a straight line, means to slow it down in corners. It’s not a good place to be.
But the new recruit, young Aussie Oscar Piastri, remains cautiously optimistic – it is of course only testing, and nothing counts until next Saturday evening after the first qualifying session of the year.
“I think we’re about where we expect it to be, I would say,” Piastri told Speedcafe.
“We’re probably somewhere in the mix of the midfield, is my best guess at the moment.
“Of course, we don’t know exactly where everyone’s at in terms of fuel and engine modes and stuff like that, so we’ll find out on Saturday next week where everyone really is.
“But I think we’re about where we expected.”
The Bahrain Grand Prix was a struggle for the squad last year too. Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris finished 14th and 15th.
Zak Brown has been at the helm of the Woking squad since 2018, and while he’s no doubt done a great job rebuilding the team and company financially after the disastrous Honda partnership, pressure will begin to mount if they don’t perform in 2023.
Norris, too, is in his fifth season and is highly-rated in the paddock. Without a car to challenge at the front, McLaren could well lose the young gun to a rival squad.
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