Guenther Steiner believes McLaren’s revival in Formula 1 has derived from understanding how to avoid the issues that other teams have faced under the current rules.
McLaren began last term in disastrous shape as a late switch in development direction over the winter saw it commence the season even struggling to accrue points.
However, a seismic mid-season update package in Austria transcended McLaren’s competitiveness and it concluded the campaign in fourth with nine podium results.
The Woking-based squad has carried that momentum into 2024 to attain 12 podiums across the opening 14 rounds – including two victories – to enter title contention.
Red Bull’s relative regression compared to the competition and Sergio Perez’s troubles have enabled McLaren to close to 42 points behind the reigning F1 champions.
Steiner, who lost his place in charge at Haas prior to the season beginning, has attributed McLaren’s remarkable turnaround to having a solid grasp on the regulations.
“Absolutely, and I’m not saying how good they are now,” Steiner said on the RacingNews365 podcast. “I go back, as you rightly said, to 2023.
“When they came out, they were nowhere, nowhere. Four, five, six races later, they catch up and start getting good, they’re in the top three, top four.
“Then they come back the year later in 2024 and make the next step. I think they’ve got actually a good understanding what is needed to make this latest regulation of car work well.”
Ferrari started the season as Red Bull’s main challenger, but a revised floor in Spain has triggered high-speed bouncing which has blunted the side’s competitiveness.
Meanwhile, both Aston Martin and RB have also experienced setbacks when introducing developments that haven’t delivered the gains anticipated in the wind tunnel.
McLaren’s upgrades have worked as intended, however, and Steiner has pointed out how valuable that is in an era when the teams can’t be reliant on simulation tools.
“The bouncing and all that stuff, because it’s so difficult to understand,” Steiner expanded.
“But when you understand it, you can work at it and get the development right, because a lot of people, as we saw this year, they brought upgrades to the cars, which made the car actually go slower.
“Even if in the wind tunnel it showed more downforce, which is what you go for, but certain things, you cannot simulate in the wind tunnel what this regulation of car do on the racetrack.
“So I think McLaren just have a very good understanding of what is needed and when they develop, they develop for the needs of the car and they’re not just looking at more downforce which then you cannot use because the car is not drivable anymore.”
