Latest Episode | Cut To The Race Podcast
After three years without a grand prix victory, McLaren have picked up two so far in 2024.
McLaren will be hoping to have as strong a finish to this season as they had in 2023. In the first eight races of last year, the Woking-based team had scored only 17 points and sat sixth in the World Constructors’ Championship Standings. However, in the following 14 race weekends, they accumulated an astonishing 285 points, catapulting them from mid-table obscurity to a fourth place finish. In that time period, only Red Bull boasted a better haul than McLaren, who were the first to consistently pressurise the Austrian team at the front of the grid. On the face of it, their fourth place finish does not seem impressive. However, considering where they were before the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren had much to be optimistic about coming into 2024.
Carry on their scintillating run and who knew where they could possibly end up this season…
Reaching new heights
Following a string of promising performances, Lando Norris finally broke McLaren’s grand prix duck in Miami. The team had failed to win on a Sunday since Daniel Ricciardo’s 2021 victory in Monza but were responsible for the second of seven occasions that Max Verstappen has been denied thus far this season. Having never stood on the top step, despite claiming 15 podium finishes beforehand, the win was also Norris’ first in Formula 1.�
Tasting the success of a grand prix win would have without a doubt been one of McLaren’s short-term goals at the start of the season. After six rounds, that goal was achieved, and it would not be long before they added to it. In only his second F1 season, Oscar Piastri achieved his maiden win at the Hungarian Grand Prix and became the season’s seventh race winner.
Despite winning two races in a single season for the first time since 2012, perhaps the most impressive aspect of the team’s season so far has been their knack of picking up points. In the 14 race weekends so far, a McLaren driver has only failed to score points in only two races, one of which being Norris’ retirement from the Austrian Grand Prix. Unlike 2023 where the MCL60 mainly suited tracks with high speed corners like Qatar, the Woking-based outfit’s specialties now broaden much wider. This has allowed them to consistently challenge at the front of the field and sees them sat second in the Constructors’ Championship Standings, trailing only Red Bull.
With 12 races down, we've taken a look at which drivers have gained or lost the most places in the standings.
While it is good news for the #McLaren drivers, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso have found things much tougher going.#F1 pic.twitter.com/Tt5ozkMOq4
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) July 9, 2024
Still failing to deliver?
Up until now, their 2024 season has certainly been a step in the right direction, however there are still areas where McLaren will be seeking further improvements. Despite being competitive since Bahrain, McLaren have less race wins than Mercedes so far this year who took nine races to claim their first podium finish. On multiple occasions, the British team have looked promising all race weekend, before failing to get over the line at the final hurdle. In all of Canada, Spain, Austria and Belgium, McLaren finished within four seconds of the race lead. Their lack of decisiveness has seen them fail to substantially reduce Red Bull’s lead atop the championship standings.
Norris in particular showed his lack of experience fighting for wins when battling Verstappen for the race lead in Spielberg. After a few close calls at turn three of the Red Bull Ring, tempers boiled over and the pair collided with only seven laps remaining. This incident handed the race win to George Russell who swooped past the hobbling pair and into first place. Although the Dutchman picked up a puncture� from the incident, he still finished fifth, whilst the terminal damage on Norris’ car forced him to retire. In a race where McLaren could potentially have moved fifteen points closer to Red Bull in the standings, they instead only gained two.
"THIS RACE HAS BEEN TURNED ON ITS HEAD!!!"
VERSTAPPEN AND NORRIS COLLIDE ? pic.twitter.com/IyvWBGWzG6
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 30, 2024
Strategy issues?
The British team have also suffered from setbacks from questionable strategy calls. At Silverstone, where McLaren looked nailed on for a double podium finish, both of their drivers were agonisingly denied an impressive race win. With their drivers occupying the first two positions on lap 28 and rain getting heavier, McLaren decided to pit Norris for intermediates, bringing Piastri in the following lap. With Mercedes double stacking their cars, Piastri was left vulnerable and when emerging from the pit exit on lap 29 found himself nearly 20 seconds off the race lead. Just 12 laps later, McLaren made the same mistake by not reacting quickly enough to put Norris back onto a dry tyre. As a result, his race lead was taken by Lewis Hamilton who went on to claim victory for the first time in 945 days.
Oscar Piastri has been told to tell McLaren no more after a strategy call cost him at the British GP…
#F1 #McLaren #OscarPiastri pic.twitter.com/Qx1YgAxTCi
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) July 9, 2024
How can McLaren improve?
Despite facing stern competition from rivals over the past few months, Verstappen still has Red Bull in good stead due to his seven grand prix victories this year. If McLaren want to make a charge for the championship, they will have to match this. Only 42 points separate the two teams going into the final ten races of the year, a gap which could easily diminish if the British team are able to capitalise on an increasing number of Red Bull faulters.
If they are able to consistently achieve race wins and podium finishes when the season resumes, they could fins themselves firmly in the championship driving seat.
Feature Image Credit: (Photo by James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)