Why McLaren Struggled in Bahrain
Before we dive, here is a little context
McLaren is a historic team, and despite being a customer team, they have managed to win 12 Drivers' Championships and 8 Constructors' Championships. Their true place in F1 belongs in the top spots.
Despite their glory days, regulation changes have not been kind to the team. Today the reality is different; their performance is simply not as good as it was before. The team as a whole, aims to be the team they were before the hybrid era.
The team suffered a major restructuring, and in 2016 Zak Brown came to the team to become its director. The aim was to slowly gain performance each year and re-place themselves at the top of the grid.
There are a few things that have affected McLaren’s plan. One of the main reasons could have been their contract with Renault during the hybrid era. When Red Bull ditched the French manufacturer, the latter found in McLaren an apparently good partnership.
The engine, or power unit, is severely underpowered and it affected a team that is used to developing high performance chassis. Changing power units implies major restructuring and redesigning of the car.
Each PU is different, and the car must adjust to it. McLaren ran Mercedes engines until 2014. They switched to Renault at the dawn of the hybrid era, 2015. Poor performance forced them to switch back to Mercedes in 2021.
The plan suffered a major blow. Switching to Mercedes meant redesigning the car completely.
The 2021 season showed that the car improved its pace, they were fighting Ferrari for the 3rd spot. In the end they could not achieve the objective due to Ricciardo’s irregular season, and reliability issues.
2022 was looking good for them. They had high hopes, considering they resolved reliability and improved the chassis. The problem was the same, Ricciardo could not perform like his teammate Norris, reliability and other issues relegated the team from 4th to 5th in the constructor’s championship.
Losing one spot in the championship means a lot less prize money. This was a major blow to the team. 2023 did not look great. Testing came, and they suffered structure issues on the brake ducts, a few reliability problems, and other things that limited them severely their time on the track.
Raising the floor:
McLaren’s performance during the Formula 1 season opener in Bahrain was beyond disappointing. Their pace was poor, compared to their immediate rivals like Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Alpha Tauri, and even Williams.
The British team is aiming for a 4th place in the constructor’s championship. It is a realistic objective, considering how dominant the ‘Big 3’ (Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes) are in terms of pace.
As mentioned before, limited time during the test sessions a week ago carried over the uncertainties they had. How is the car in terms of pace? How reliable is the car? Where can we improve?
For this year, the FIA raised the floor to avoid ‘porpoising’ a problem that only seemed to affect Mercedes. If you are new to the sport, the term ‘porpoising’ refers to a heavy bouncing of the car due to intermittent suction at the bottom. You bounce up and down like a porpoise on the sea.
It affects the driver’s ability to see properly, and according to studies, it can affect you physically in the long term; back problems and even head injuries.
McLaren tested the new raised floor and saw that with their current package at the time, it was simply impossible to gain performance. They decided to switch to something entirely different; a package that could have much more potential in the end.
The team was simply caught in the middle of the storm. Big changes require more time to be implemented correctly, and when the FIA announced the change, it was simply too late to re-develop a package accordingly.
They will eventually solve the problem, but it means that you will not perform as desired during the first few races of the season. With a tight battle in the middle, losing points will end up costing you dearly.
On race day
During the Bahrain GP, the team already knew it was going to be difficult. Both of their drivers were knocked out quite early during qualifying. They were also aware of the issues with the raised floor. The pace was simply not good.
Once the race started, they quickly stumbled into an electrical problem. Piastri was the first to retire with electrical issues. Team director Andreas Stella said: “The electronic damage was further down the line around the steering column. So, the steering wheel wasn't the problem. It was a problem with the harness probably. We are investigating. Not fixable in a short time."
Norris on the other hand had a pneumatic issue with his power unit; this required him to pit every 10 laps to refill the system by connecting an airline to the left-hand sidepod. The issue was present even before the race started.
The team made this decision because they would rather have Norris on track gathering as much data as possible, than to retire him early.
This shows how bad McLaren’s test went a week ago, and how important data is for every team.
Eventually, both drivers retired from the race.
What is coming? The team is hopeful
The team missed their targets due to the reasons mentioned previously. Part of the plan included a major upgrade to be implemented by the end of April, on the Baku Grand Prix.
The team from Woking is hopeful because they believe that the car has a lot of potential. Andreas Stella, the team’s principal, says that the car is ‘alive on the wind tunnel’. They believe they can eventually catch up with the teams in the middle of the table, and also close the gap to the teams above, specifically the ‘Big 3’.
I believe McLaren can battle Aston Martin for the 4th spot in the championship. Perhaps they initially intended to battle Ferrari for 3rd, but regulation changed forced them to shift their targets.
Their current issues are solvable. Time will tell once they get that big upgrade on Baku; they will also need to consistently bring upgrades to the car. Who knows, maybe we will see an interesting battle with Aston Martin, and why not, Mercedes, whose woes are present, but will work to solve them.
What are your thoughts on McLarens season start? Do you think they will improve significantly later on? Let me know in the comments below.
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