McLaren has resolved its issues for the Australian Grand Prix

Once again, McLaren is the team that has done the least amount of running during the winter tests this year: while it was possible to attribute the 2017 problems to a Honda engine with a new concept, the use of a Renault engine should have resolved these issues this year. However, the Woking team completed only 599 laps and ranks last in laps completed, far behind Haas with 695 laps. The problems were numerous, from a lost wheel on the first day, battery and exhaust issues, to heat management concerns at the rear of the MCL33’s engine cover.

But at McLaren, the work hasn’t stopped, as demonstrated by the second week, which saw the rear of the car modified to alleviate their cooling problems with cuts to release heat. According to Eric Boullier: « All the problems we have seen have been analyzed at the factory. There has been a lot of work to leave no stone unturned to allow us to extract the maximum performance from our new package for the first race. »

The McLaren is indeed one of the cars that evolved little between its presentation and the end of winter testing, but apparently to prepare for the arrival of a new package of improvements in Melbourne this Friday. And Fernando Alonso is convinced that the MCL33 can go faster than its 3rd fastest time during winter testing: « Our car showed a lot of potential during testing, and although there is still a lot of work to do, we have already learned a lot about how the new elements work together on this year’s car. »

After lackluster winter testing, between bursts of speed and many hours lost in the pits, the Spaniard is eager to arrive in Melbourne: « Australia is the first real test, and we will have to work hard throughout the weekend to put everything together. No one can predict the performance of other teams, and that adds to the excitement. Winter has been long, and I am really eager to see what we can do. »

Last year, none of the McLarens managed to break into the Top 10 at the first Grand Prix, and Eric Boullier knows that the competition will be fierce to score points this year: « We are not expecting miracles instantly, far from it, but we know we will do everything we can this weekend. »

It remains to be hoped that McLaren resolves its reliability issues, which can no longer be blamed on their engine, the same one used by Red Bull and Renault, both of which have shown good reliability during the two weeks of winter testing. Especially since the Honda engine has proven reliable with Toro Rosso.