In an event that has celebrated the 60-year history of the McLaren F1 team, the British team has unveiled the McLaren MCL60 with which it will compete this season.
The McLaren F1 team has presented from its headquarters in Woking, England, the car with which Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will compete in the 2023 Formula 1 season. It is a new beginning for the British structure, which has just lost the battle for fifth place in the Constructors’ World Championship in 2022 against the Alpine team.
For this year, McLaren F1 has decided to change its driver lineup. In the position that Daniel Ricciardo held without much success (but with one victory) in the last two seasons, starting this year his compatriot Oscar Piastri will sit.
The Australian comes from winning the Formula Renault, Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in consecutive seasons, and is considered a diamond in the rough. Until last year, he belonged to the Alpine driver academy, but McLaren offered him a starting position and he had no choice, especially when Fernando Alonso was originally going to follow in the French formation.
The arrival of Piastri is not the only novelty for McLaren this season. The hitherto team boss, Andreas Seidl, has signed for Sauber to prepare for Audi’s arrival at that structure. This has promoted the Italian Andrea Stella – Schumacher’s and Alonso’s former engineer at Ferrari – to the position of head of the team. At the helm of McLaren Racing is Zak Brown.
The new McLaren MCL60 that we see in the images pays tribute to the 60-year history of the team, founded by Bruce McLaren in 1963. Throughout this time, the British formation has achieved eight team titles and twelve drivers, the last in the already distant 2008, along with Lewis Hamilton.
The McLaren MCL60 maintains the colors of McLaren’s beginnings in F1, papaya orange and blue, and that we have already seen for several years in the premier class. The car is an evolution of last season’s, and with it they hope to take a step forward together with their young driver line-up.
“This is my fifth year in Formula 1 and I look forward to bringing positive momentum into the new season after a year of racing under the new era of regulations,” Norris said. “It’s been a good challenge to adapt to them and I feel like I’m in a good position to keep improving as a driver.”
“I am delighted to be making my F1 debut this season with McLaren,” says Piastri. “Pre-season has been fantastic for me, and I’ve been working hard to prepare for this year. The time I’ve spent in the factory and in the simulator has been enjoyable and productive, and everyone in the team has been very welcoming to me.” .
Although we will not see him in the car every weekend, this year the Spanish Alex Palou will officially be part of McLaren F1. The Barcelonan will be the team’s reserve driver and will go to the Formula 1 circuits as long as the events do not affect his participation in the American Indycar, where he continues to run with Ganassi.
McLaren’s objective this year should be none other than closing the gap with the three teams above, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, and protecting itself against other teams that are prepared to fight, such as Aston Martin F1 or Alpine, which He already beat them last season.
