McLaren has confirmed that it is keeping a deliberate low profile in this year’s round of official car launches, intentionally holding back key details of its new MCL38 as part of a game to keep its secrets to itself as long as possible.
The 2024 car of the team was unveiled at Silverstone on Wednesday without any media presence on site. The official images released later by the team seemed to have hidden important aerodynamic details.
This is a stark contrast to last year’s strategy, which involved a glamorous media launch at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking that attracted a large audience. Team principal Andrea Stella stated that this change in approach was deliberate.
Stella explained, “We have observed that some teams have opted for a more stylish approach to launching their cars, similar to what we did last year. This included shows, launches at theaters, at MTC, and live streaming.
“However, we have also noticed that sometimes a more low-key approach may be preferred for the car launch,” he added. “These strategies can be alternated over time, so we transitioned from last year’s glamorous launch to this year’s more understated one.”
In addition to technical and operational aspects, it is important to consider the marketing and commercial aspects,” he emphasized. “F1 is a significant business, not just a technical one, and we must consider all of these requirements and various approaches.”
Driver Lando Norris was more direct in explaining why McLaren was being cautious during the pre-season.
“It’s all about performance, why would you ever want to reveal everything?” he playfully hinted at the team launch event this week. “You get a glimpse of the car now, but you’ll see the rest in a couple of weeks or so. So please be patient!”
“At least we unveiled our car before it hit the track, unlike others!” pointed out Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri, taking a dig at Red Bull’s decision to conduct a shakedown of the RB20 a day before the official car launch event.
Last season, McLaren faced a challenging start, but with upgrades introduced from Austria onwards, the MCL60 emerged as one of the top cars on the grid, closely competing with Red Bull.
This season, McLaren aims to continue their positive momentum by starting strong. They are strategically keeping the details of their off-season development work under wraps to avoid giving their competitors any hints.
Stella doesn’t anticipate significant changes in car design this year, as the technical regulations have remained the same since 2022. This consistency is leading to a convergence in the microscopic shapes of most car designs, as observed in early photographs of all teams’ cars.
The performance of the cars is not solely determined by their appearance. While they may start to look similar, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their performance will also be the same. However, it is possible that some convergence in performance may occur.
The photos of the new McLaren released so far are considered to be accurate, according to the team’s precautions. The car will be tested alongside other teams’ cars in Bahrain later this week before the first Grand Prix of the year takes place at the same venue.
Leave a Reply