After Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez finished first and second in the first Formula 1 (F1) race of 2024 in Bahrain, the season has not turned out as fans may have expected. We have seen seven different race winners from four different teams, with five drivers winning more than once. Ferrari and Mercedes have made notable steps to close the gap to Red Bull, but it’s Woking-based McLaren’s efforts which pose the biggest challenge to the drivers and constructors championships.
After not winning a race since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, McLaren have now taken five wins and 14 additional podiums. The team are now leading the Constructors Championship for the first time since 2014.
McLaren’s sputtering start
One of the most remarkable aspects of McLaren’s rise is how sudden it appears. The start of the new “ground effect” era of Formula 1 in 2022 was a disappointing one for the team, with them seemingly regressing in key areas.
But if 2022 was disappointing, the start of 2023 was disastrous after both cars qualified at the back of the grid and Oscar Piastri ended up not finishing his debut race in Bahrain. The lack of pace was mainly down to aerodynamic issues with the car as the team had missed key targets in this area.
The team’s fortunes were slow to pick up, with the first points coming in Australia but it took until the Austrian and British Grands Prix for them to consistently score in every race.
The shock turnaround
This was no coincidence as McLaren brought significant upgrades that were initially meant for Silverstone to Lando Norris’s car in Spielberg, which immediately yielded results as Norris came in a strong fourth place and in Silverstone, he made the podium while Piastri had a then-best career finish of fourth.
By then, the 2023 season was properly up and running. Bar a hiccup in Las Vegas (where both cars got knocked out in the first part of qualifying and only Piastri scored points after Norris crashed early on), McLaren showed consistently strong pace and recovered to fourth place in the Constructors Championship with a sprint race win and nine podiums being the strongest results.
When asked about the catalyst for the dramatic change in form, team principal Andrea Stella pinpointed the restructuring of the aerodynamic department as the main “enabler” for the team’s sudden competitiveness following the technical director role (usually taken by one person) splitting into three complementary positions. Norris and McLaren CEO Zak Brown were also quick to mention the impact of Stella’s appointment as Team Principal in 2023 in their upturn in form.
McLaren top of the Constructors Championship
After the win for Piastri and a comeback to fourth from 15th on the grid for Norris in Baku, McLaren took the lead in the Constructors Championship from Red Bull. This change was widely understood within Formula 1 to be significant as the team had not won a Constructors title since 1998 (excluding 2007, where they scored the most points but were disqualified due to the Spygate scandal).
While the start of the 2024 season was not as bad as that of 2023, it was still not indicative of a strong title challenge. Norris and Piastri finished sixth and eighth at the first race in Bahrain, which suggested that McLaren would again be fighting amongst the midfield in both championships. Despite Norris getting podiums in Australia and China, it still did not look like Red Bull would be prevented from winning both titles.
The turning point happened in Miami.
After 110 Grand Prix starts, Norris finally got his maiden F1 victory. It may have required a stroke of luck with the timing of the safety car in the middle of the race, but he was able to keep Verstappen behind for 27 laps to take the chequered flag and secure the win.
The result was monumental for both driver and team. Norris had previously gotten agonisingly close to his first win in Russia in 2021, but a wrong call in changeable conditions ruined his race and all chances of victory disappeared. For McLaren, the win symbolised their return to the top of Formula 1 as well as showed their ability to compete with Red Bull.
Red Bull’s turmoil
However, the race in Miami also made it clear to the rest of the paddock that Red Bull’s off track scandals were starting to take a toll on the team. That weekend, chief technical officer Adrian Newey announced his departure from Red Bull after 18 years at Milton Keynes. Newey is one of the most successful designers in Formula 1 history, with his cars having won 13 drivers and 12 constructors championships.
There was some speculation that Newey had partly left due to his unease around a scandal involving team principal Christian Horner, who was accused of inappropriate and controlling behaviour towards a female colleague. In response, Red Bull conducted an internal investigation and cleared Horner of all wrongdoing.
The outcome and the manner in which the investigation and overall handling of the situation was done has been heavily criticised both within and outside of Red Bull. The criticism took aim at the suspension of the complainant and the secrecy surrounding the internal investigation, with Verstappen’s father Jos notably going as far as to call for Horner to resign.
Even though the scandal unfolded before the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season, it is widely accepted to be one of the main driving factors behind Red Bull’s loss of dominance.
McLaren changing the face of F1?
But it is important to note that it is not the only reason why Red Bull have fallen behind and the development work done by McLaren in terms of their car and personnel is arguably the more pertinent factor behind the rise of the Woking-based team.
Even if the Drivers and/or Constructors titles end up being won by Verstappen and Red Bull, the 2024 season has still been a remarkable turnaround for a team who just over 12 months prior, had both cars at the back of the grid at the first race of the season.
