McLaren enthused after key Red Bull signing begins work

McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes the signing of Rob Marshall from Red Bull will give the team "extra horsepower" in its pursuit of the World Champions in 2024.

As part of its technical reshuffle in spring 2023, McLaren hired Red Bull's Chief Designer Marshall as well as David Sanchez from Ferrari, although both could not take up their technical director roles until having completed the standard gardening leave period.

Both joined the team at the start of 2024, teaming up with Peter Prodromou in a three-headed technical director structure, with the trio reporting into Team Principal Andrea Stella, who in turn reports to Brown.

The MCL38 is set to be unveiled on February 14th, with McLaren hoping its late season form of 2023 will carry over and enable it to be the closest challenger to Red Bull - who won 21 of 22 races last term, with Brown believing both Marshall and Sanchez will deliver a boost.

"I think last year the team showed what we're capable of and now that Rob and David have joined, that's just some extra horsepower," Brown explained to Sky Sports F1.

"It's still quite a challenge to get back to the top of the field, but I feel we have all the tools we need to do that. Now we just have to beat the other nine teams, which is never easy.

"We are excited, the team is very motivated. We had a strong second half of the year [in 2023] and I just hope we start a little stronger than we did around this time last year.

"[Rob] has a lot of energy, a lot of ideas, and he brings a lot of valuable experience with him."