McLaren has managed to progressively increase its points in recent seasons: from 30 in 2017 to 62 in 2018, 145 in 2019, 202 in 2020 and more recently 275 points in 2021.
This is largely due to the expansion of the technical infrastructure that the team is carrying out, a series of modifications and improvements made with the clear objective of challenging the leading teams in the medium term.
One of the most important changes will be the construction of a new wind tunnel, one of the keys that Andreas Seidl asked the shareholders as soon as he took office in January 2019. It is expected that this new contraption could be finished before the end 2022, as confirmed by himself in an interview with Formel1.de .
“In terms of infrastructure, we are there,” Seidl said. “Our wind tunnel is under construction and the goal is to complete it by the end of 2022. Once we have it, we will approach the development of the car step by step during the course of the 2023 season.”
However, it seems obvious that a development tool like the wind tunnel will not have an immediate impact on the car’s performance. Analyzing it, Seidl acknowledged that the 2024 McLaren will be the first car “to actually be developed in the new wind tunnel in Woking”.
Like other infrastructure measures being carried out behind the scenes at McLaren headquarters, Seidl recalled that they are also involved in the construction of a new simulator to be completed “by the middle of next year (2023)”, in addition to the renovation. from other parts of the “set of machines we use to make the parts for our F1 cars”.
McLaren ‘s goal is to arrive “on a par” with Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing in terms of infrastructure. According to Seidl, the measures that are currently being implemented (CFD resources have been expanded and updated from 2021) are a “prerequisite”. However, he wanted to warn that: “We have to be patient, doing big things takes time.”
This season, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will once again be in charge of guiding McLaren at the controls of the MCL36 . However, after last year’s poor feeling, the Australian will have to improve his performance a lot if he wants to be present when all these tools mentioned above are available to the Woking team.
