McLaren boss ‘not too worried’ about introducing upgrades during Sprint weekend
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella admits she’s not too worried about introducing upgrades to the MCL60 during the first Sprint race weekend of the season at the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP.
Baku will host one of the six Sprint races this season at the end of April, meaning F1 will have to remove one practice session from its weekend itinerary to accommodate all of the weekend’s activities.
McLaren’s start to the season is not surprising. The team accepted that the car they launched and ran in the first three laps was sub-optimal compared to their rivals.
Going into the race in Baku, Stella is not surprised by the introduction of upgrades. In an interview quoted by F1 journalist Chris Medland, the Italian said:
“If there is no abnormal behavior, that is relatively easy because in modern Formula 1 you have the data and you can read the aerodynamic performance through the forces that you measure and through the map. pressure map around the car where you measure up to dozens of pressure sensors. .”
Stella went on to add:
“So we’re not too worried about judging if it’s viable, unless there’s some anomaly. But so far I have to say the cars are showing good correlation with the performance. That’s why we decided to introduce it, even if it’s a sprint.”
‘We hope we will dispute’: Baku upgrade won’t be a game changer for McLaren, according to Andrea Stella
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is hoping his team can compete for points after they introduce the aforementioned upgrade to the MCL60.
After two dismal laps in the Middle East, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both finished in second place in the 2023 F1 Australian GP, although a bit of luck came their way.
Despite opening an account for the campaign, Stella doesn’t want her team to take it for granted. When asked about the team’s situation after the race in Albert Park, the Italian tennis player said:
“We weren’t carried away – we knew it was a very exciting race. It was good to score after we had some tough races at the beginning of the season where we had to compete for points but for various reasons we couldn’t. Now it’s good to end these races with a good score.”
He then went on to talk about his plans to upgrade the car, acknowledging that it would not be a game changer for McLaren but a step in the right direction in terms of development.
Stella added:
“We know that in Baku, we start another step of the season by starting with some upgrades on the car. We know it won’t change the game, but it will be the first step to what we hope will be more upgrades. We hope we will compete for points in the future based on performance.”
McLaren will hope this and recent technical restructuring could help them get back to the challenge in midfield and have a long shot to be the best against the rest, something they’ve struggled with as they’ve been sliding down the leaderboard for several seasons. recent award.
