McLaren has 'a lot of work to do' before Bahrain season opener

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has insisted there remains "a lot of work to do" ahead of the opening race of the season after the launch of the MCL38.

The Bahrain Grand Prix kicks off what is set to be a record-breaking 24-race campaign on March 2, with pre-season testing preceding a week prior at the same location.

Woking-based McLaren had been the first to show off its livery back in January but has waited until third-last to officially launch its new challenger, which Stella has revealed plays host to a number of "innovations".

Yet much like last year, when the team got off to a slow start, attention has already turned to in-season development.

"The team are excited to present the MCL38 today and to see it on track for the first time," said Stella, ahead of a filming day at Silverstone.

"Going into this year, we look to build on the momentum of last season but are realistic in the knowledge that every team will have made progress and found competitiveness for their 2024 cars.

"We now have everything in place from an infrastructure, people and culture perspective so we continue to push forward and build on the work done to get us back to front of the grid."

A number of innovations

"Before we hit the track for competitive sessions, we have a lot of work to do, including putting the MCL38 through its paces during the Bahrain pre-season test," added Stella.

"The team has done a good job over the winter, and we are confident we can hit the ground running, but we know we have important tasks at hand before the season starts.

"There are a number of innovations on the car, but not all the areas we want to address have been completed for our launch-spec car. Those areas now become the focus of our in-season development, which is already in progress.

"My thanks go to the entire team, both trackside and at MTC and MRC for their great efforts in ensuring the car was ready to hit the track today, as well as our colleagues at Mercedes HPP for their continued collaboration.

"We now turn our attention to the long season ahead as we look forward to Bahrain Testing next week."