The 2023 season is looking complicated for McLaren, at least until Baku

With the Bahrain Grand Prix, we were able to see the forces at play on the grid, and it must be said that the McLarens made a very bad impression. Failing to qualify a car in Q3, the assessment is disastrous for the British team. Zero points at the end of this GP, with a retirement for Oscar Piastri and last place for Lando Norris if we don’t count the retirements. This result is partly due to the lack of reliability of the car, which forced Oscar Piastri to retire, while Lando Norris made no less than 6 pit stops.

The consultant and former driver Jolyon Palmer assesses McLaren’s performance over the weekend. McLaren, well that’s what we thought during the tests. They struggled. Lando placed himself in the top 10 at the beginning, but he didn’t have the pace and fell back, and then he just had a series of reliability issues. In the end, it was a testing session for them. The pace was really bad for McLaren, Palmer stated in the post-race F1TV broadcast.

Furthermore, the former Renault driver finds Lando Norris’s situation disappointing, especially considering his performances from last year. I found Lando brilliant in getting as close as he did to Q3, but he only made it to Q2 because he was the first driver to complete a lap. Both McLarens could have been eliminated in Q1. And then, he is overtaken by Albon and then Sargeant, who is making his debut in the Williams. It hurts. I mean, he’s a guy who had experience, fought for podiums, and got one last year. He shouldn’t be fighting at the back, so I feel a bit sad for Lando given McLaren’s current state.

Palmer continued his analysis by mentioning the case of rookie Oscar Piastri, who couldn’t even gain any experience with this first GP: « Obviously, for Oscar Piastri, he needed a few laps, he needed data for himself and for the team, and the reliability wasn’t good for him. »

Baku in the crosshairs to regain performance

According to Palmer, McLaren, who wants to upgrade during the Azerbaijan GP, just has to wait for Baku, because in their current state, they are underperforming. McLaren is struggling. I think they are eagerly awaiting Baku when they could bring an upgrade in terms of pace.

Furthermore, Lando Norris also mentions the MCL60 upgrade project during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Until then, McLaren will have to persevere with what they have. We are behind in comparison to our ambitions and where we should be. If we want to be a top-level team, we should have started the season with the car that will be in Baku. But until then, we are doing our best to make the most of what we have now. We remain optimistic about the progress we can achieve later in the season.

While waiting for a possible return from McLaren during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the upcoming races may end up resembling the one in Sakhir for the British team.