Last Updated on January 2 2024, 11:12 am

Whilst 2023 was a year where Formula One records were smashed by Red Bull and Max Verstappen most fans and the rest of the sporting world would hope this year is different. There is the much talked about ‘law of diminishing returns’ which sees Red Bull hit a ceiling on their development capabilities and other teams apply the knowledge Red Bull has learned since the big new regulation change in 2022 which should see at least one team close the gap to the world champions.

The big question is which team or teams will that be? Ferrari were clearly ahead of Mercedes over the closing races of last year as the Italian team closed the gap to Toto’s team to just three points in the race for second place. Yet the Scuderia lost some momentum in Las Vegas when Carlos Sainz car was wiped out in first practice after hitting a loose drain cover.

 

 

 

Red Bull challengers assessed

Mercedes have been talking big about their 2024 car. The team’s engineers have finally abandoned the concept they founded their W13/14 cars on and as Wolff explained before the winter break “almost every component” will change for their 2024 challenger.

Yet there are inherent difficulties ahead for Hamilton and his team given they will arrive at each track without the setup data the rest of the field have gleaned over the past two seasons and with their all new W15 may well be brilliant at some venues, but horrible at others.

Aston Martin were the surprise package at the start of last year. Ditching their 2022 design concept, Fernando Alonso claimed 6 podiums in the first 7 races and had Lance Stroll delivered better over the year could easily have retained their early P2 team position. 

Yet it was McLaren who were the most successful team behind Red Bull over the second half of the 2023 season following their big upgrade which delivered almost a second a lap improvement in performance at most circuits. Wolff has found hope in this remarkable turnaround stating in Monza: “From where we are, we just need a step like McLaren and Aston Martin have achieved in one go, not a two-tenths upgrade but a five-tenths upgrade to get back into the game, so yes I think it is possible.”

Red Bull Newey era to end says Horner

 

 

 

McLaren dark horses

McLaren of course began the season with a car designed under the leadership of Andreas Seidl who left before the beginning of the 2023 season to join the Audi project with Sauber. Andrea Stella stepped in, reorganised the way the team operated and the result was the all new McLaren debuting at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Only Lando Norris had the upgrades that weekend but it was immediately evident the new design from Woking was there to challenge the big boys. In Friday qualifying Norris finished fourth with just Verstappen and the two Ferrari’s ahead of him. In the Sprint qualifying he went one better claiming P3 for the afternoon race where damp conditions and a drying track caught McLaren.

In the Grand Prix however, despite the tome of track limits penalties handed out by the stewards, Norris came home in a respectable P4 and in doing so almost doubled the McLaren haul of points from the previous seven events.

Behind the scenes a few weeks earlier, McLaren had captured a prize scalp from Red Bull Racing when they persuaded Rob Marshal to leave the team he had spent 17 years with to move to Woking. In his new role Marshall will join fellow ex-Bull senior aerodynamics engineer Peter Prodromou along with Ferrari’s David Sanchez to complete the “F1 Technical Executive team” which reports directly into Andrea Stella.

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Brown announces F1 technical exec team

With Neil Houdly supporting Marshall in the newly created role of deputy technical director of engineering and design, McLaren said the pair will be “working together to assess and establish the highest technical standards in order to design a competitive F1 car.”

Sanchez will be in charge of car concept and performance and Prodromou will continue in his role overseeing all things aerodynamic wise. Having worked under F1 design guru Adrian Newey for 17 years, McLaren see their headhunt of Marshall as key for the team’s success moving forward.

Yesterday, Marshal completed his gardening leave and joined McLaren in Woking. 

Zak Brown cheekily explained how he pulled a fast one in recruiting Marshall from the world champion team. “In that instance, I got very heavily involved,” Brown told Sky F1, when asked about how the signing of Marshall had come about. Questioned on how he had gotten the contact details for the engineer, he said: “Someone on our team had it, so I put in a call!”

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Horner admits Red Bull’s loss is McLaren’s gain

Brown clearly turned on the persuasive charm when headhunting Marshal who of course was enjoying great success as Red Bull had returned to the fore in F1.

“In that particular instance, I think anytime you’re recruiting someone who’s very senior, they need to understand the direction of travel to get excited, because Red Bull is a fantastic team,” he said.

“So, for him to leave there, after so much success, I think that shows the excitement that he believes that we’ve got coming here at McLaren.”

Christian Horner admitted that McLaren’s gain would be Red Bull’s loss and reflecting he told Sky F1, “McLaren had a great second half of the year. There were times they were very, very competitive – our closest competitor at times during the second half of the season – and they’ve strengthened their team. Rob will for sure be an asset.”

“With Lando and Oscar, who was really impressive as a debutant this year, I think they could well be a factor next year,” concluded the Red Bull bossed.

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McLaren new facilities now deployed

Yet with Prodomu being the exception, the newly formed F1 tech executive team in Woking will have had no input into the 2024 car that hits the track in Bahrain in just over 7 weeks from now. Brown believes it will take another season before the full results of his recruitment drive are seen. 

”We have everything we need, but we need a little bit more time,” Brown said. ”The upgrades [in 2023] were not done with some of our latest technology, and we’re now in our wind-tunnel, we have our new simulator, our new manufacturing unit so that is quite exciting for us because we haven’t benefited from those.”

Verstappen key moment early in 2023

 

 

 

Can Norris push Verstappen?

Piastri had a spectacular debut year as an F1 rookie and whilst expectations are high for the young Australian often year two in a team is more difficult to consolidate as George Russell found at at Mercedes.

Yet in Norris, McLaren have a driver capable of completing with the best in F1 worthy of recognition alongside his peers of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. Norris signed a five year deal with McLaren which runs to the end of 2025.

At the time it was questionable whether the rising star had made the right call. Now with McLaren working inside their new facilities with upgraded tools and fresh senior eyes, from hereon the only way is up and this should be of concern to Mercedes and Ferrari, while Red Bull will also be watching but from further up the road.

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