McLaren can catch up with Red Bull in a year

The most spectacular progress of the 2023 F1 season was produced by McLaren, as while they scored only 17 points in the first eight race weekends, 285 in the remaining fourteen, and a total of nine podiums, as well as two sprint poles and one sprint victory – and overall they could sometimes forcing Red Bull to fight more seriously.

Although they have already won two podiums and a sprint pole this year, overall, the Chinese weekend was the first time when they proved to be better than Ferrari, and their gap against Red Bull increased, for which team boss Andrea Stella provided a clear explanation: the energy drinkers were earlier last year they stopped developing the RB19 as McLaren’s own car.

“We lost a bit, because we gained a lot before because they didn’t develop,” said Stella, who also formulated a very positive vision for the future: “That’s why we have to look at things in the long term, and we are on a strong development path in the long term. If we keep this going for the next 12 months, and why not, we can catch Red Bull.”

The fact that the first major development package will arrive in Miami also provides a basis for confidence, in addition, the team’s strongest competitor for the time being, Lando Norris, is getting stronger in competitive situations – at least according to Stella – while there have been no complaints about his one-lap pace so far:

“We see him becoming more and more consistent in the races and understanding more and more what’s going on. It seems that what they call racecraft is getting bigger and bigger [kb.: versenyző képesség] we will name it, and it will become more and more accurate”, the Italian specialist praised his competitor, then added:

“He’s done a really good job with his engineers and factory support to work out the options to make small changes and get the most out of the car’s potential. That is his merit.”