McLaren warning issued over F1 2024 chances with Mercedes advantage made
McLaren’s warning concerns Mercedes’ chances of taking the lead in F1 2024.
Lando Norris, McLaren, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Lando Norris leads Lewis Hamilton in the Ascari Chicane at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix.
Former Mercedes CEO Nick Fry has questioned McLaren’s ability to challenge Red Bull for the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, saying the team “needs to be realistic about its evolution”.
McLaren will aim to crown the defending champions this year after recovering from a slow start to 2023 to become the most consistent threat to Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Lando Norris equaled his best record of six second-place finishes in F1 last season, while new team-mate Oscar Piatri stunned Verstappen to win the Qatar sprint race.
McLaren urges to keep expectations ‘realistic’ for F1 2024
With the team’s long-awaited new wind tunnel experiments and the additions of Rob Marshall and David Sanchez from Red Bull and Ferrari respectively, McLaren is expected to be on a growth path ahead of the next major overhaul of F1 rules in 2026 . . But Fry, who oversaw Mercedes’ move from Honda through Brawn GP, believes McLaren have yet to challenge Red Bull consistently. He said Mercedes had some time to optimize its facilities.
But he believes the team is on the right track under team boss Andrea Stella, with McLaren now making smarter decisions than they did in the Ron Dennis era. He told OLBG: “I think McLaren will continue to improve. I hope they win the race. “I’m still not sure they’re good enough to beat Red Bull or Ferrari on a regular basis. I think that’s a stretch. “McLaren has to be realistic about evolution. In Andrea Stella, we have an experienced team leader who is calm, sensitive and understands what steps need to be taken to help the team win. “Some of the investments that have been made at Mercedes, such as the world-class wind tunnel, were made in my time. The wind tunnel was built around 2005 or 2006, so we’ve been contributing for a long time.
