Breaking news
Formula 1
McLaren "anticipating a good F1 car" in 2019
McLaren is "anticipating a good car" for the 2019 Formula 1 season as it bids to improve swiftly under its new management structure.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: Jan 15, 2019, 12:30 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The British team is the second most successful in F1's history but has not won since the 2012 season finale or stood on the podium since the 2014 season opener.
It expected to challenge for podiums following its switch to Renault engines last year, after three years of pain with Honda, but the performance of its MCL33 was disappointing.
Since racing chief Eric Boullier left at the start of last summer, McLaren has made a number of major changes – culminating last week in ex-Porsche LMP1 boss Andreas Seidl joining as managing director.
Speaking at last weekend's Autosport International Show, McLaren CEO Zak Brown said 2019 would be "a very big year for us".
"We're anticipating a good car," said Brown. "The off-season development has gone according to plan but you ultimately don't know what the competition's been up to and the competition's tough, and getting tougher.
"We need good feedback from [new drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris]. This will be a much different car to 2018.
"We want them to race the field hard. Naturally team-mates race each other hard but they get along well, they are good guys and to move forward as a team we need them to bring both cars back in the points.
"They know that. That's the team goal."
McLaren says it understands the errors that led to its MCL33's fundamental aerodynamic shortcoming in 2018.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who has stepped away from F1 for 2019, scored a best finish of fifth in the season opener but McLaren finished in the points just twice in the nine races after the summer break.
Brown added: "All the men and women back at McLaren having been working extremely hard to make sure we build a better car than 2018, because I know these guys won't want to drive last year's car!"
Former Red Bull protege Sainz, who joins McLaren from Renault, has already said he hopes the Woking team "remembers" how to win.
Speaking at the Autosport International Show, he reiterated that patience was needed given how far McLaren had fallen back.
"McLaren has a very clear plan, which is hopefully in the near future to go back to what McLaren has always been: a winning team," he said.
"But it's a long-term plan. We cannot get overexcited. We need to work hard. The team last year was really far away from that.
"We've seen what we need to do to become bigger and stronger."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article F1 created own sim to trial new grid formations
Next article "No point" staying in F1 without change – Steiner
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
McLaren
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
16 h
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
Latest news
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
13 min
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Phoenix
22 min
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
General
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Japanese GP
3 h
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe