McLaren exceeded expectations last season.
Buoyed by a new customer engine deal with Mercedes-AMG that reignited a title-winning partnership, the team battled regularly for podiums, and Daniel Ricciardo led home Lando Norris for a sensational one-two in the Italian Grand Prix, ending a team-record barren run of 170 races. As such, it finished the year fourth.
Expectations are consequently high for 2022, especially with the team having long ago put a major development focus on the new technical regulations for this season. But there are no guarantees in F1. Remember Pastor Maldonado? The mercurial Venezuelan’s stunning win in the 2012 Spanish GP ended a record winless run of 130 races for Williams, and along with the team’s new customer engine deal with Renault (resuming a title-winning partnership), it seemed like the spark for a revival. Yet the team hasn’t won again since.
Now, Ricciardo is much better than Maldonado, but the truth is that progress in F1 isn’t always linear and can’t be measured by slightly fortuitous wins. So while he is optimistic, and with the team showing good form in pre-season testing, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is keeping expectations in check.
It’s a mantra that Brown has been pushing since he took over the position in 2016, during the team’s nadir with uncompetitive and unreliable Honda engines. “My first year was the worst year in the history of McLaren on track,” he says.
His task since then has been to transform the culture and working methods of the storied team to the modern era of F1. He says his role has largely been to put the right people in place, such as team principal Andreas Seidl.
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Well, by the fact that I'm the only one interested in the article, it's a no, no based on the whole weekend,and judging by the long face on Norris, there's not much more to come, the race yesterday must've surprised a lot of the teams, Haas went well, Mercedes managed to get on the podium and Redbull weren't expecting Ferrari to be in front,and, judging by Verstappens Rattle out of Pram antics in the last two or three Laps I think Sainz is just the man to cut Verstappen down to size, let's hope the next 22 races are as good.
Well, judging by qualifying yesterday, McLaren aren't at the race, they've gone backwards from last year.
It's with some apathy that I say, what makes the media think that there's going to be a new World order in F1?, Mercedes and Redbull aren't all of a sudden be at the back of the grid, I'd like to see McLaren and Renault in the mix through the season, there is some talent driving them Russell for one, and yes, the first race of a new season can be a shocker in the Jenson Button championship year, or as the media have been feeding keeping alive till this coming weekend, the Sir Lewis/ Verstappen War.