(Motorsports news) Following a disastrous start to 2023, McLaren made significant progress with mid-season car changes, which helped Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri record nine podiums apiece and push the team to fourth place in the constructors’ title, ahead of Aston Martin, who was starting the season quickly. That turnaround came about as a result of Stella’s technological reorganization, which made greater use of the employees currently employed at Woking.
New hires and facilities upgrades won’t be implemented until around 2024. This is fueling hope that McLaren can maintain its strong performance and contend with teams like Ferrari and Mercedes this year. Stella, however, claims that the team prefers to concentrate on process improvement and development rather to discussing the establishment of such specific goals.
“We don’t even use that terminology internally at McLaren, so I won’t talk about how we want to be second, first, or third. In an exclusive interview, Stella said, “We don’t talk about this. Outcomes look for themselves. “What do we have to do in terms of aerodynamic development, mechanical development, and how do we improve the interaction with the tyres” is the topic of conversation.
“The typical regions are merely the tasks that we have to do; if you question any other team, they would respond in the same way. How do we ensure that projects truly achieve what we need, and how do we deliver them? And that’s what needs to be the main focus. “We are striving to feel as though we are progressing a little bit each day. We are getting more proficient, more skilled, and more knowledgeable in all the areas that will finally lead to on-track success.
“Then, once we are in Bahrain, once we are in Saudi, we will see how good a job we have done.” McLaren’s MCL60 was frequently the second-fastest vehicle on the grid in the latter half of 2023, trailing only Red Bull RB19. “One thing I often tell, especially my leadership team: plans are really good, but we are not here to execute plans, we are here to deliver performance,” McLaren said in response to a question about whether Stella had to alter any of his plans in light of the team’s better-than-expected performance.
Plans serve as helpful guides, but you really need to adjust and ask yourself, ‘What does this indicate for my next step and how much do I need to review the plan?’ almost every day. Plans have the potential to lead to a comfort zone. I attempt to approach it from the perspective that performance is the main concern. A plan is not the goal; it is merely a tool.”
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