Season results: McLaren Racing – all Formula 1 news 2023

Fourth place has been a common result for McLaren in recent years, but everyone has been impressed with the progress throughout the season…

McLaren was not afraid to present a new car on the 13th, but changed the serial number – the consecutive number series was replaced by an anniversary series, as this year is the 60th since the team was founded by Bruce McLaren.

In the off-season, team leader Andreas Seidl left the team and moved to Audi – everyone thought he would be promoted, but in fact it was Andrea Stella who moved to the promotion, who grew up in Formula 1 and achieved his dream – in 2023 he led the legendary team.

The composition of the drivers also changed: Daniel Ricciardo was replaced by the Formula 2 champion and his compatriot Oscar Piastri, who became Lando Norris’s partner.

Unfortunately for the fans, the team started the season poorly. In the first eight races, points were achieved in only three races, so after the Canadian Grand Prix, McLaren occupied only sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship, behind Aston Martin, which eventually surpassed it by 137 points. It seemed impossible to bridge this gap, but they did it.

The car suffered from poor handling, was seriously inferior to its rivals on circuits with poor grip and lost speed in slow corners. The aerodynamics didn’t work.

Norris later admitted that given the poor results, he even thought about changing teams. But the engineers worked. The team was recruiting employees after completing the formation of its technical headquarters – in 2024, Rob Marshall, who joined from Red Bull Racing, will become technical director.

Conclusions were drawn – and from the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren scored points in all races. The car was seriously updated several times and soon it was able to fight for pole and climb onto the podium. Impressive progress!

Aston Martin, on the other hand, lost momentum and focused on the 2024 car, so that the end of the season in their head-to-head battle passed with a convincing advantage for McLaren.

Debutant Oscar Piastri tried to match Lando Norris’ speed, and if he sometimes succeeded in qualifying, he lost pace in the race. I lacked experience in using tires on the road and interacting with engineers. But this doesn’t mean that Oscar wasn’t fast, it’s just that Lando’s experience helped him.

The most productive stage was Saturday’s sprint in Qatar, when both the new products and the riders worked well. 47 points – only Red Bull earned more this season. Piastri won the sprint while Norris finished third, and in Sunday’s race Piastri finished second and Norris again third.

As the season progressed, the team managed to completely turn the situation around. With each update we were able to make significant improvements – even the leaders couldn’t. The best pit stop of the season was also left to the McLaren mechanics: 1.8 seconds in Qatar.

This year the team launched a new wind tunnel (previously cars had to be blown up at Toyota’s base in Cologne) and extended the contract with Mercedes for the supply of engines. Piastri has gained the necessary experience, so if the same speed and consistency can be maintained next season, McLaren has an excellent chance of being in the top three. It’s still too early to claim more, but the team is banking on confident victories in 2025.

I wonder what kind of car Rob Marshall will build for McLaren.