A black livery may be symbolic of a winning machine, but that is not the reason black has been chosen. Rather, it is because it is a weight-saving exercise, as reverting the car back to its carbon fibre, could be worth as much as “three-tenths” the team surmises.
Weight was considered the reason the 2022 car experienced excessive bouncing. This time the frame and some internal components have been revised and lightened and may be worth up to three-tenths of a second per lap in terms of speed.
Wolff‘s mood at the launch was fairly buoyant, and he is expecting success this season after only winning one race last year.
“The entire organisation was pushing flat out last year,” Wolff claimed. “When we realised that the car wasn’t where we wanted it to be, we mobilised every reserve we had. That never stopped throughout the season.”
“We are now getting to start the new season. I see so much effort, motivation, and energy in the organisation to launch a car that will eventually be competitive enough to fight at the very front of the grid.”
The media has naturally latched on to Wolff’s use of the word “eventually,” suggesting it may mean the car might not be ready to win straight out of the box. But Wolff says he chose that word deliberately “because on one side you want to say we will be competitive. On the other side, you need to stay humble and be realistic so you could be saying, “I hope that we will be competitive”.
For Hamilton, returning to winning ways is about that eighth title, which he believes he was robbed of in 2021 when the FIA race director allowed racing on the last lap in Abu Dhabi, whereas Hamilton and Wolff believed it should have finished under a safety car. Hamilton is determined to make amends for that and also for the fact that last year he failed to win a race in any one season for the first time since joining F1 in 2007.
“I love working with this team,” he told Sky Sports. “Of course, our goal is to win a world championship. I’m not thinking about eight… I’m thinking about a championship like it’s my first.”
“I believe I’ve got the right team in order to do that. I’d be so proud to do that for this team again. This has been my life for such a long time and I feel currently fit enough and deserving of my position, so I’m going to continue to go for a bit.”
There is already an assumption of course that Red Bull will continue in the way it finished last year, which was winning 17 out of 22 races. But the reduction in wind tunnel time as punishment for overspending last year, and on the face of it, rolling out a car similar to last year, may not be enough if their rivals have taken a big leap forward.
2009 world champion Jenson Button, these days a pundit for Sky Sports, has been impressed by both the Mercedes and Ferrari cars.
Button says the reason he retired, and the reason most F1 drivers eventually retire is because their car is not capable of winning. Sebastian Vettel might be a good example of that, and the reason Fernando Alonso left F1 for two years was that McLaren gave him and Button a car that often didn’t finish a race, let alone finish in the points.
“It is something we all go through at some point in our career and it’s a reason why a lot of people retire,” Button said, “They’re not in a winning car anymore and that’s why I left. You can deal with the pressure you put yourself under and the calendar if you’re in a winning car. When you’re not, then you are like, you know what, I’ve had enough. I want to get out.”
Button, who was Hamilton’s McLaren teammate for three years, believes he will be on it right from the start.
“I think he’ll start this year flat out. He’s going to be on it from the word go. So, I look forward to seeing that,” he noted.
“It’s going to put a lot of pressure on George Russell at Mercedes, but I think it’s a good pairing and I look forward to that fight.”
“The Ferrari looks nice. It looks really nice, it looks like they’ve worked on areas where they were weak and they’ve taken some risks in other areas. It’s strange about Mercedes because the car, I would say it’s beautiful, it’s the most beautiful car but they might possibly be changing the side pods.”
“I look forward to that fight at the front. We all hope for that, three manufacturers at the front fighting for the championship, don’t we?” he added.
Last year, Alpine displaced McLaren from the 4th position in the Constructors’ championship. Alpine has produced an aggressive-looking car, but the question is whether it will get anywhere near the top three, as it failed to do so last year. The other interesting aspect of that team is how the pairing of two Frenchman, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, who were born six miles from one another, were rivals coming up through the motorsport grades, and haven’t seen eye to eye in the past, will get on with one another.
“It’s been good, I think it’s been really good,” Gasly said at the launch. “Obviously, we’ve spent more time together in the past few months than we’ve spent over the last eight to 10 years. I think it is very important, and I’m pleased with the way we’ve been handling things with Esteban. We’ve grown up people now, much more mature, and aware of the responsibilities that we have representing a team like Alpine with the Renault group behind us.”
“I’ve got no doubt that we will be able to work very closely and work really well to push the team forward and it’s going to benefit all of us.”
Ocon seems to agree, telling the media, “no stories, I’m sorry to disappoint you. There’s not gonna be any headlines!”
This season marks the 60th anniversary of McLaren’s first entry into F1, back in 1966 at the Monaco GP. The team founder, Bruce McLaren, was behind the wheel when the team had its first victory in the 1968 Belgian GP. He was tragically killed at Goodwood in 1970 while testing a Can-Am car, but the team, without New Zealand connections in terms of ownership, has respectfully retained the McLaren name.
Since 1968, the team has won 183 grand prix, 12 drivers’ championships and eight Constructors’ championships. Its last win came in 2021 when Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian GP. Its drivers this season are Lando Norris, who is still looking for his first F1 win, and new signing, Oscar Piastri, who is yet to start an F1 race.
The young Australian replaces Ricciardo, who is now back at Red Bull as a reserve driver. Alpine thought Piastri would sign as a team driver when Alonso defected to Aston Martin, but Piastri had other ideas under the guidance of former Red Bull driver, Mark Webber. The question is whether McLaren can move back up the grid, and give Norris, who has re-signed with the team until 2025, a chance to win his first race.
At the launch at its Woking headquarters, team boss Andrea Stella admitted not all was well with the MCL60.
“There are some areas of the car that will be interested in development in the early stages of the season,” Stella ominously said. “We are happy-not entirely happy for what is the launch car-but optimistic that it should take a good step soon.”
He won’t have long to find out whether they have produced a potential contender or will have to head back to the drawing board, as testing begins in Bahrain from February 23-25, followed by the first race, also in Bahrain, on March 4. Lance Stroll will miss the test for Aston Martin, thanks to a bike training accident. Safer on four wheels than two?
Sources: F1.com, Sky Sports F1
