McLaren were in a weird place at the start of the 2023 Formula 1 season. Andreas Seidl left them to join Audi, and Andrea Stella became Team Principal. Both he and Zak Brown downplayed the MCL60 during its launch, admitting the team got the development direction wrong. This was reflected in the races as both star driver Lando Norris and rookie Oscar Piastri had a horror run. However, even McLaren couldn’t have imagined how effective their upgrades would be.
Their Season So Far
The first 9 races of the season were terrible for McLaren. The only good thing about those races was the consistency of their drivers. They only scored a total of 29 points in the first 9 races. This figure is boosted by Lando Norris finishing 4th after getting the upgrades in Austria.
In the next race at Silverstone, Oscar Piastri got the upgrades as well. It was almost like flicking a switch. Both the drivers started in the top 3 behind Max Verstappen. A late safety car prevented a double podium for McLaren. The result? A haul of 30 points from that race alone. The upgrades proved to be holistic because they worked on the next track in Hungary as well.
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Driver Performances
Lando Norris has had the measure of his rookie teammate at McLaren. He started the season with just 3 points-finishes in the first 8 races and 4 races where he finished 17th. Since the upgrades, he hasn’t finished below 7th in 4 races.
Oscar Piastri has shown his potential in his rookie season. He has barely made any rookie mistakes and has even managed to outperform Lando on occasion. His crowning achievement came in the Sprint at Spa where he finished second.
How has the car evolved?
McLaren has easily out-developed every other team on the grid in-season. From being convincingly in the lower midfield, they are now legitimately the second-best car after Red Bull. Zak Brown and Andrea Stella will be happy to see this progress.
Also Read: McLaren get in another contract dispute, loses star driver to rival
Predictions
McLaren currently sit 88 points behind Ferrari and 93 points behind Aston Martin. If their drivers keep maximizing their results, the end of the season could get extremely interesting between these 3 teams.
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