McLaren Already Done With Car For First Race In Bahrain

Friday, 19 January 2024 at 07:00

Zak Brown told the media after the unveiling of McLaren's new livery for the 2024 season that the work on the car that we will see in Bahrain is already finished.

With 44 days to go until the first race of the season in Bahrain, the McLaren F1 team already unveiled its main livery for the 2024 season.

However, the livery was shown on the "old" car from the previous season. While we must wait for the official car launch to see McLaren's 2024 challenger, Brown revealed the car is already done. According to Formula 1, he said:

"Of course, there will be a continued development [with the car], so we’re not done, we’re just done with our launch spec car – expect continued improvement over the course of the year."

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Last year's car launch and first few races did not go so well for the Papaya team. However, McLaren showed its strength with the following development over the course of the season.

"Clearly, we want to continue to close the gap [to the front]. I think we finished up last year as the second or third-quickest team, [depending on] which circuit you were at."

If the British team started the 2024 season in a better place, there is potential to catch up with the expected leader - Red Bull Racing.

On the other hand, Mclaren's CEO suggested a while ago that the million-dollar question is how early Red Bull could switch their focus on the 2024 season and how much gains it brought to the team.

"[But] Red Bull certainly seem like they didn’t develop last year to the level they could [have done] if they wanted to, so that could be an unpleasant surprise for all of us!"

Nevertheless, starting the season even in second place would be tremendous for the Papaya team, and it would be something to build on moving forward into the season with the following upgrades.