McLaren wants to join the top three teams and admits it must start exploring other design options if it is to succeed. Will Alpine and Aston Martin, who also want to follow in their footsteps, have to do something similar?
The 2022 season was a ray of hope for ambitious teams that, however, have not performed at the desired level in recent seasons. We talk about Alpine, Aston Martin or McLarenwho intend to join the three dominant teams in the fight for wins and titles.
The reality is that the new regulations have not changed much in that sense, as Alpine is more or less in the same place and even McLaren and Aston Martin have regressed. For this reason, the Woking team is considering solutions to achieve its purpose in 2023 and beyond.
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Evolution, but not only that
James Keytechnical director of McLaren in Formula 1, has reflected on what his team needs to join Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.
“Honestly, I think it is fundamentally related to the rate of development. Well, up to a point, I should say, since your car has a certain level of potential and you develop it within that potential to a certain extent»nuance
“The (Hungarian) updates, with which the car looks quite different, are really the next logical step from Barcelona, and actually this work has been going on for quite some time”.
But while the car’s development has been visible through the first half of the season, James Key admits it’s time to consider opening up other design avenues with greater potential.
“I think you get to a point where you say: “Well, okay. Our car concept has reached its peak and now we have to start traveling in new directions?”. Mercedes I guess is in the middle of it, but they have definitely made some very good progress recently. What is certain is that they have progressed more than us, “acknowledges the British engineer.
your own way
The new regulatory era that Formula 1 has launched this year has caused teams to adopt different design philosophies for the same goal. Ferrari with its bathtub type pontoons, Red Bull with a more sculpted and stretched concept and, finally, Mercedes with the pontoons reduced to the minimum expression.
With the goal of reaching the top three, James Key admits that “in order to start doing that, we have to, in all honesty, start looking in new directions.”
“We have optimized as much as we can and the next step, if possible – we have a cost cap and a time cap and other things to consider for next year’s car – is look for new directions, which open up more potential to develop»enlarge.
“On the track we’re at that point now, but in terms of thinking, we’ve been at that point for a couple of months,” reveals Key. “Really, that’s what we have to do. We have to unlock new areas of development and we have been looking at it in detail for next year.”.
Therefore, the 2023 McLaren MCL37 should find its own way to the front, although James Key does not hide that “Obviously if we look closely at what the competition has done, there are two teams that are showing what is possible here, they have caught all the rest of us”.
Those teams are Ferrari and Red Bull, whose concepts have guided the rest of the grid. The Italians, for example, serve as inspiration for Alpine, while the Austrians are the clear reference for Aston Martin. Teams that, if they want to succeed, must find their own way.
Font: GP Fans
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Photos: McLaren Racing