McLaren was always more optimistic for the second round of 2024 than the opener in Bahrain. The MCL38 proved to be more at ease on the Jeddah track, finishing P4 with Piastri and gaining a position compared to Bahrain. McLaren capitalised on a very underwhelming Mercedes that suffered from significant problems at high speeds.
The advantage in terms of race pace compared to the W15 and the Aston Martin AMR24 was around a tenth and a half. However, the Ferrari was three-tenths away, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen around seven-tenths.
Looking at the Constructors, the Woking-based team is in third place with 28 points, behind Red Bull (87) and Ferrari (49) but ahead of Mercedes (26) and Aston Martin (13).
The MCL38 struggles with long turns and DRS
Entering the first weekend of the season, Andrea Stella said the Bahrain track was not very suited to the characteristics of the MCL38. He underlined that Jeddah could be more favourable.
However, Lando Norris managed expectations by explaining that the papaya car still suffered from a limited front end.
After the race, the Team Principal of the Woking team went into more detail.
“Our strengths and weaknesses were shown very well on this circuit. Starting from the strengths, you will have seen that in the first sector everyone was losing ground to us.
“This is because, in fast corners – where you just need to give a single steering wheel input – our car responds very well.,” said the Italian engineer
The GPS data confirms this, given that in the snake from turn 4 to turn 10, the MCL38s did not even lose ground with Max Verstappen’s RB20, with Lando Norris showing more speed than the 3-time Champion.
However, when the corners are longer, like the 13th or the last corner in Jeddah, that’s where the MCL38 loses a lot of time.
“In the corners where you need to spend a lot of time on the steering, we are not yet as competitive as we would like,” Stella admitted.
“And that’s where cars like the Ferrari are very strong. It is no coincidence that Leclerc was so competitive in the last sector.” Aston Martin shares this problem with their AMR24 machine.
The other important limitation of the MCL38 is top speed, especially with its DRS open. McLaren lost as much as four tenths in qualifying, a gap that cost Piastri and Norris P2 and P3 on the grid.
This limitation created considerable problems for Piastri in the race, failing to overtake Lewis Hamilton’s W15.
In Australia and Japan small updates, the first big package towards Imola
Many 2024 projects are important evolutions of previous ones. Several macro technical areas have undergone revolutions. These include the chassis, transmission and mechanics of Ferrari and Mercedes.
For these teams, there is still more potential to unlock with their current cars. This is not necessarily the case for McLaren. As it stands, the MCL38 is largely a continuation of the upgrades introduced last year in Austria and Singapore.
“I think there is still a bit of margin to understand our car, but it will be worth a tenth at most,” Stella said.
In Jeddah, for example, the two MCL38s raced with a slightly different approach to the set-up, useful precisely to better understand the car for the very short term.
Improvements to the MCL38, both in terms of performance and relative terms, will be achieved predominantly through updates.
Specific circuits will also give McLaren certain advantages and disadvantages.
“Suzuka has a very similar first sector to Jeddah, so we expect the Japanese track to be good for us,” stated the Italian engineer.
Regarding development, McLaren hopes to maintain the trajectory it achieved last year post-Austria.
“We have some small changes coming to Australia and hopefully Japan. But they will only be worth a few milliseconds.
“Then, within the first third of the season, we will have an important update,” explained the Italian team principal.
Miami or Imola are the most likely events where the first substantial updates will be introduced. The American track will host the second sprint race of the year, with the first to be held in China.
Last year, it was only Lando Norris who received the upgraded car in Austria. Piastri received the improvements thereafter. However, these logistical issues should not repeat themselves in 2024.
“Debuting the updates no longer has much to do with logistics. But [instead] more with the choice of whether you want to bring updates when there are Sprint Races.
“And above all, if the update is ready. This happens after being convinced that it could be a good update,” concluded Andrea Stella.
Author: Piergiuseppe Donadoni
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
