F1 team already have early-season upgrade package ‘in the works’ ahead of 2024 season

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McLaren may have jumped the gun on the rest of the grid with their livery announcement yesterday and they plan to do the same when the 2024 F1 season starts with an early upgrade package already in the works.

Despite not officially unveiling their car until next month, McLaren have already shown the world how their papaya and black car will look this season.

A report from The Athletic has shared more details of the team’s plans as they look to build on last season’s development.

When McLaren showed their car to the world, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see a similar livery to last season’s.

After previously being known for a silver and black car during their years working with Mercedes, the orange and black is now synonymous with the Woking-based team.

Andrea Stella will be delighted with the position his team are in going into this season.

Unlike the majority of the grid, he’s not sweating over any driver contracts that are set to expire.

Lando Norris is signed up until 2025, while Oscar Piastri will be with McLaren until at least 2026.

Although the young Brit is potentially on Red Bull’s radar, it’s going to be virtually impossible for them to prise him away from his current team.

Norris will be encouraged by McLaren’s plans for 2024 as well, with an early upgrade on the horizon during the first few races of the season.

It shows that the team are continuing to be proactive even though they’ve been working on building a faster car throughout the winter.

Early upgrade on the horizon for McLaren in 2024

The report from The Athletic suggests that the package is ‘already in the works’ and Stella said: “It seems like the linear gradient of development can be maintained.”

The development race in Formula 1 is going to be a fascinating one this season.

The grid will be holding their breath to see just how much quicker Red Bull are compared to last season when the rest of the paddock couldn’t match them.

Ferrari aren’t satisfied with their work so far this season, while there are already concerns about the simulator performance of the Alpine.

McLaren will hope their first upgrade package of 2024 is simply making their car faster rather than fixing any potential issues.

If they can avoid the slow start they suffered last year, there’s no reason why they can’t be the best of the rest behind Red Bull or potentially aiming even higher.