“Too early to make predictions,” says McLaren’s team boss, who will not risk making estimations about the evolution of the Formula One grid after just three days of winter testing during which everyone has been hiding their game.

McLaren’s new team boss Andrea Stella says it is still far too early to make any predictions about the Formula One hierarchy after just three days of winter testing.

After three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain last week, it is difficult to predict the true hierarchy in Formula One for the 2023 season, as most of the teams have kept their cards close to their chest during the testing.

McLaren issues

At McLaren – which did not have the most productive winter testing with the MCL60 spending a lot of time in the garage due to “minor” issues – manager Andrea Stella is not making any predictions, but the Italian insists his team is extremely motivated to achieve its goal of fourth place this year.

“It’s too early to make predictions about the evolution of the grid, but our aim is to regain a place in the top four teams during the year,” says Stella ahead of the first race of the 2023 season which takes place this first weekend of March in Bahrain.

“We know it will be tough and we have a lot of work to do, but we are optimistic about the season as a whole.”

“We have a long season ahead of us, 23 races and some challenges on the horizon, but we can rely on an exciting new driver pairing with Lando and Oscar, as well as a team of hard-working and talented people, and a strong partnership with HPP [Mercedes’ engine department] and the support of our business partners and our incredible fans.”

On the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix, it is not yet known whether McLaren has resolved its problems during winter testing, which seemed to be focused on one part of the car: the turning vanes behind the front wheels.

In 2022, the McLaren team finished fifth in the constructors’ championship, fourteen points behind Alpine.

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