McLaren are off the F1 pace – can their plan deliver the speed they need?

A well-stocked trophy cabinet and a storied past give many of Formula One’s teams a rich heritage but on race day old glories count for nothing. History is rightly respected but it does not buy lap time. McLaren, one of F1’s most successful teams, know this only too well. This season, as optimism for success fell apart in devastating fashion, they face an uphill struggle to prove they really are ready to rejoin the top table.

McLaren have assuredly already earned their honours. Only Ferrari have competed in F1 for longer and only Ferrari are more successful. Since Bruce McLaren made his team’s debut in 1966 at Monaco they have won 12 drivers’ and eight constructors’ titles. From 909 races they have won 183, numbers that have made them synonymous with F1. They are the tallies of which other teams can only dream.

Yet the glory days have seemed a distant memory for some time. The team last challenged for a championship in 2012. An engine partnership with Honda proved disastrous and they fell to ninth place in 2015 and 2017.

The fightback has been long and hard but it has been successful. Until now. Last season Daniel Ricciardo won at Monza, albeit aided by Max Verstappen ending his own and Lewis Hamilton’s race, but it was indicative of how competitive McLaren were. On an upward curve, they had placed third in the 2020 constructors’ championship, with Ferrari struggling. Lando Norris, who completed the one-two with Ricciardo in Monza, also took four podiums last season. This year with the new regulations there was genuine belief McLaren could threaten the big three.

At the season opener in Bahrain those hopes were shattered. Norris and Ricciardo qualified in 13th and 18th respectively, and finished in 15th and 14th.