Autobayng News Team
Reigning world champions McLaren expect to start the new season playing “catch-up” based on what they saw in pre-season testing.
Team principal Andrea Stella expects the same four teams as last year will head the field. McLaren won 14 of last year’s 24 rounds on their way to one of the most dominant constructors’ championship victories in years, but Stella suspects they won’t be the team to beat in next week’s season-opening race in Melbourne.
“For our part, we are happy with what we have seen in our car, but we are equally aware that some of our main competitors – it is not coincidence that all three are works teams – have done an excellent job,” he said. “We need to work hard to catch up and develop the car as quickly as possible.
“Once the cards are on the table, development will become the major challenge. To use a football metaphor, the first part of the season will see us playing a bit defensively, trying to exploit the counterattack.”
He believes Mercedes – McLaren’s power unit supplier – and Ferrari have the upper hand over the field at the moment.
“With all the unknowns involved – in testing there are parameters that are not fully known, such as the amount of fuel on board or, particularly from this year, the way in which the available energy is used – I feel I can confirm what I said in Bahrain: the ‘usual suspects’ – strictly, in alphabetical order: Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull – are a step ahead of the competition,” he said. “Within this leading group, we believe that Ferrari and Mercedes are a step ahead, although it is difficult to quantify how large the gap is. We will find out starting next week in Melbourne.”
McLaren will only bring minor refinements to its MCL40 for the opening round, Stella confirmed.
“It will essentially be the same,” he said. “We will have introduced some minor aerodynamic updates and will continue to work on important aspects, such as the weight of the car – this is a rather significant factor not only in absolute terms but also because going below the minimum weight will allow us to work on weight distribution. Another key factor is the exploitation of the power unit.”
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