McLaren and Aston Martin could struggle over the “first half of the season” after a “nightmare” weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, according to Martin Brundle. He said McLaren “started at the back” last weekend and “stayed there” after the team couldn’t get over their braking issues.
He added Aston Martin also had a “particularly difficult weekend” and warned it would be almost impossible for them to find a quick fix. The quick turnaround between races gives teams little time to “sort the car out,” with the two British-based teams tipped to struggle again in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
When asked if McLaren had a lot of work to do after the first weekend, Brundle replied “yeah, they had a nightmare”.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, he added: “They started at the back and pretty much stayed there.
“We know they had to make some late changes, some dramatic changes to their brake cooling which presumably upset the aerodynamics a lot around the front. They are straight into another race and then we’re off to Australia.
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“So when you’re on the hoof like that it’s hard to really sort the car out quickly with the fundamental changes. You need reliability to go with that as well.
“So McLaren and Aston Martin had a particularly difficult weekend and you fear for them in the first half of the season like that.” McLaren was running an interim solution to the brake problems which plagued them at the Barcelona test.
However, this did not solve the issues and the team instead gambled on a different race strategy. They were the only team to start on the medium compound tire in an attempt to outplay the field.
They also tried a one-stop strategy but neither worked to their advantage and the team finished outside the points, with Daniel Ricciardo in 14th and Lando Norris a place behind him.
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After the race, team principal Andreas Seidl said the team is “working as hard” as they could to bring performance quickly.
He said: “As expected, after a difficult Friday and Saturday in Bahrain for us, today’s grand prix was a continuation of the issues we’re facing at present. We had to manage a lot of different parameters throughout the race, and that didn’t allow us to be competitive.
“Thanks to Lando and Daniel who battled hard all weekend together with the team here in Bahrain and back in Woking, who have put in an immense amount of work. This was a disappointing and painful experience for everyone within the team, and of course for all our great fans.
“We are now analyzing in detail why we’re not competitive and working as hard as we can to bring more performance to the car, as rapidly as possible.”
