McLaren requires ‘aggressive’ F1 development for top four

McLaren boss Andrea Stella says the squad will have to adopt an aggressive development strategy if it is to meet its targets in Formula 1 this year.

McLaren outlined the launch of the MCL60 that it was not entirely happy with the current-spec car, having identified a different development path long-term, suggesting it was braced for a challenging start to 2023.

That theme continued throughout pre-season testing in Bahrain with senior personnel from McLaren playing down the team’s prospects early in the year.

McLaren is hopeful that a sizeable upgrade package will be readied in time for the fourth round of the season in Azerbaijan.

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“I think being aggressive is required,” said Stella. “F1 gets more and more competitive in terms of how many teams have the facilities, equipment, people, to develop cars at very high rate.

“Yes, we have to be aggressive if we want to make our objective of being a top four car over the course of the season, we have to out-develop our competitors, so we do have to be aggressive.”

McLaren remained towards the bottom of the timesheets throughout the three-day test and also completed the fewest laps – 312 – of the 10 teams.

Stella explained that McLaren has met “most of its objectives” with the MCL60, pointing to improved balance and tyre usage, but accepted the car lacks overall performance.

“The objectives in terms of the aerodynamic efficiency of the car – that’s the one where we are still shy of what was our target I would say,” he said.

“I think we will see again that the midfield is very compact, and this means that if you don’t do a good enough job even in setting up and maximising what you have you may struggle to get out of Q1, at the same time you may be a Q3 contender.

“I think talking about competitiveness, I would say our objective through the season is to be a top four car. At the moment I would say we are not necessarily in this range.”