McLaren already looking towards 2014
Martin Whitmarsh, director of the McLaren team, stated this weekend at Silverstone that his team was already focusing on the car for next season.
The McLaren team started the 2013 Formula 1 season very poorly and after 8 Grand Prix, they are only in 6th place in the constructors’ championship with 37 points, far behind the 219 of the Red Bull team currently leading. The Woking team is even behind Sahara Force India, which is having a good start to the season with 59 points.
The MP4-28 is clearly not up to the level of its rivals, and the British team intends to be better next season. Martin Whitmarsh stated that even though the mid-season has not yet passed, his team is already focused on 2014: « We have to ensure that we will be competitive next year. We are putting more effort into next year’s program, earlier than usual. »
The McLaren team director still emphasized that while most resources would be focused on 2014, the current car will continue to evolve: “We are competitors, so we are not going to give up this season. We will push hard, but we have to be realistic about what is possible and what our priorities should be. We will focus on development areas with this year’s car that offer us the opportunity to learn lessons and help for next year.”
Whitmarsh also admitted that it makes sense for him because 2014 – with the arrival of the 1.6L V6 Turbo engine – and 2015 – with the change of engine supplier from Mercedes to Honda – would be pivotal years and that they had to be prepared as best as possible: « We have busy years ahead of us. We are strengthening the team and recruiting quite strongly from a technical standpoint to face the challenge of 2014 and also that of 2015. We are determined to be competitive next year. »
Jenson Button, a mainstay of the Woking team since his recruitment in 2010, believes that McLaren has made the right decision: “I think it’s good that we have more people working on next year’s car. We want to win Grand Prix races but we also want to win the world championship, and that’s not something we can do this year. I don’t think many teams can do it this year, so I think it’s a good idea to focus a bit more on next year.”
