McLaren boss Andrea Stella shares ‘developments’ coming in 2024 to try and catch Red Bull

Follow us on Google Discover

McLaren has enjoyed an impressive resurgence since the start of the season, having brought a raft of upgrades to the MCL38.

The car was initially second-best to the Red Bull RB20 after achieving podiums in Australia and China before upgrades brought to the car in Miami produced their first race win since the 2021 season.

McLaren has since gone on to challenge for more wins at Imola, Monaco Austria, Silverstone, and Belgium while succeeding with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to secure their first one-two since the 2021 season.

After Sergio Perez endured a difficult second half to the season, teammate Max Verstappen has become the main points scorer for Red Bull in races. This has led to them slipping back in the Constructors’ Championship, with the gap now down to 42 points between Red Bull and McLaren.

This has led to a development war between the pair and now it appears that McLaren will bring even more upgrades to its car during the final 10 races of the season, with team principal Andrea Stella confirming their plans to AMuS.

McLaren planning more upgrades in the second half of the season

As a result of them jumping to second in the Constructors’ Championship, McLaren will have less time in the wind tunnel to test parts due to F1’s aerodynamic testing restrictions.

Whereas they started the season in fourth after finishing in that position overall in 2023, they are now second and will have just 75% of the overall amount compared to other teams.

However, Stella notes that much of their developments for the second half of the season have already been in the pipeline prior to the reset which happened at the end of June for all teams.

“Red Bull has brought more new parts than we do this season. However, we have recently had some good developments in the background, which should now find their way to the car. We plan to bring new parts in several races,” said Stella.

McLaren favourites to win Constructors’ Championship

As the season progresses into the second half after the summer break, many have predicted that McLaren could end up usurping Red Bull to the Constructors’ title.

Red Bull has been struggling with a correlation issue between simulations at their Milton Keynes factory and what is happening at the track, meaning they are on the back foot for the rest of the season.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill has predicted that it could go McLaren’s way, as the season is likely to end up being pushed into the final races of the year.

McLaren has scored the most points of any team in the last eight races with the consistency of Piastri and Norris, which has made them favourites for taking their first Constructors’ Championship since the 1998 season.