McLaren enter the 2024 F1 season in a significantly better position than they found themselves 12 months ago, where the British outfit were arguably at the bottom of the pecking order.
The Woking-based team entered the 2023 season with a woeful car, making points finishes a huge task for both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. As well known, everything turned around for McLaren at the Austrian Grand Prix last year, where they introduced a huge upgrades package.
From the race at the Red Bull Ring onwards, McLaren were suddenly capable of competing with Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin, something they previously weren't capable of. Norris was suddenly a podium regular, whilst Piastri even won the Qatar Sprint race.
At the conclusion of the 2023 season, many viewed McLaren as the side most likely to take the fight to Red Bull this year, something which'll be discovered once the season gets underway this Saturday at the Bahrain International Circuit.
There is no doubting that the team are in a better position, although they did encounter issues during pre-season testing last week. McLaren suffered from a fuel system issue on the second day of testing which cost them some running time, although this is nothing compared to the testing issues they faced in 2022 and 2023.
With this in mind, Norris is feeling much happier ahead of the 2024 season and is pleased with the work the team has done to get the MCL-38 ready.
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Team in 'much better position'
"I think the issues we've had over the last few years were just lack of preparation and knowledge of certain things," Norris told select media including RacingNews365. "This year, I think we've been definitely a lot more prepared in every area, so I'm very happy about that.
"The team done an excellent job to get everything ready and not have any faults like that. Just various other things which have happened, which I mean, it's good that it happened now and we can prepare for a bit more for the future.
"But yeah, not much of a lack of preparation or knowledge, just some little things here and there. So unfortunate, but I think the whole outlet from the team is in a much, much better position.
"And I think we've definitely come into this season, this test and this year, on the right foot for once. I don't think we've done that really at all the last three, four years. I would say that we've come in a bit more just attacking with various things, rather than not sure if this is going to be ready.
"You know, we don't think we've maximised this area and that area, I think we've come in with much more knowledge and expertise and just a much better car to start the season off with.
"I'm excited and I have been since the very beginning of probably starting the year in a good position, and then seeing how we can transform things because I think we obviously did a very good job with that last year. So yeah, the team have done a good job. I'm very happy with what they've done, and plenty more things to come."
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