How McLaren became a race winner again

When team principal Andreas Seidl joined McLaren, the Woking-based team was in the midst of a reorganization as CEO Zak Brown sought to end the team’s miserable form and lay the groundwork for a return to the top of the F1 table . Two and a half years later and the comeback is certainly underway, with Daniel Ricciardo giving McLaren its first victory in a decade with his win at Monza last year.

The orange cars finished the year fourth overall, one down from 2020 but with the highest season-ending points since 2012. Their haul of five podiums – including this win, the only one-two by a team in 2021 as Lando Norris Finishing second – also her best since 2012. Championship position was lower but her overall wins were higher compared to leaders Mercedes and Red Bull.

“So far, so good,” Seidl said when we chatted outside the team’s hospitality unit last year. “If you look back over the last two and a half years and what we have achieved, I am pleased with the steps we have been able to take, but I also know that we still have a long way to go. Our goal is to get back on top and be able to fight for race wins every weekend. But I’m definitely satisfied with what we’ve achieved so far.”

READ MORE: Zak Brown Q&A: On the Monza 1-2, racing in the US and the McLaren’s journey back to the top

McLaren had the third-best car for most of the season but fell behind rivals Ferrari when the Italian team introduced a new specification hybrid system eight races ahead of schedule. McLaren didn’t react as the focus was already on 2022 – but it was the sensible move.

The MCL35M was an improvement over the previous model, proving that the technical team led by James Key was doing a good job – and that means the team achieved their goals of constant improvement, kept moving forward and preparing in the best possible way for the Opportunity offered by new rules in 2022.

The MCL35M proved to be a handy beast

“When we look at this car it’s great to see that we’ve made another good step forward, which is a result of even better collaboration between all the different departments at home under the stewardship of James Key,” says Seidl . “A big part of that is the overall operations at the factory Piers runs [Thynne, Production Director], and then the collaboration that we have built between Andrea Stella’s team and James’ team. This has led to the step forward that we have been able to make [last] year and it gives us confidence that we can take another step forward [this year].

“New regulations are always a good opportunity, but they are a good opportunity for any team in the paddock! We know about the deficits that we still have. We still have major deficits on the infrastructure side, especially with the wind tunnel, which still needs more than a year to get it up and running. There’s a reason Red Bull and Mercedes are ahead of us. You do a better job. They will do a better job again this year. But the most important thing is to take these steps because it gives us confidence that we are going in the right direction.”

READ MORE: McLaren announces launch date of their 2022 car, the MCL36

Perhaps most impressive about McLaren’s performances over the past year is that they not only switched engine suppliers again – they switched from Honda to Renault for 2018 and then to Mercedes for 2021 – but they did so when regulations remained stable and integrate a new engine architecture into an existing concept in an even more sophisticated way – and still work perfectly. Reliability was very impressive and they made the most of the class-leading PU. “I’m happy with that,” said Seidl.

The integration of the Mercedes unit turned out to be easier than expected

“Despite the difficulties we had with this integration task over the winter, with restrictions on the car side due to the token system, and then during a pandemic with pretty much everything being done remotely from the home office, it’s impressive how the team did it together with our colleagues from Mercedes.

“At the same time, I’m not totally surprised as we’ve had some experience with McLaren over the past few years with changing powerplants! And in this paddock, Mercedes is the benchmark for the hybrid era. Still, it’s impressive how the team managed to do it. From the very first run, the car performed well and was reliable.”

Key to McLaren’s success was the impressive driver line-up of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. Norris stepped up to the plate in his third season with the team and in F1 following the departure of his friend and the more experienced Carlos Sainz and has delivered an impressive string of results including three podiums in the first nine races – whilst he would have had a first F1 -Had a win in Russia if it hadn’t rained a bit.

He picked up 63 points more than last year, finished a career-best sixth overall – ahead of Ricciardo – and scored in every race but two. He has proven himself as a team leader, has a fantastic relationship with his colleagues and is maturing into an impressive driver.

READ MORE: Norris on why he’s ‘happy and confident’ to be a mental health pioneer in Formula 1

“It’s very impressive to see the steps Lando has taken in the last two years,” said Seidl. “It’s great to see him rocking in and out of the car weekend after weekend. It’s great to see how he interacts with the team, how he also helps me to bring the team forward. I think from everything we’ve seen with him so far, he has everything he needs to become a top guy in this sport.

“At the same time, it’s important not to get carried away by the previous results he’s achieved together with us. We have set our goals quite high, but I am confident that if we continue to work hard together in the years to come, we can achieve them.”

Norris took four podiums over the course of the season

While Ricciardo indulged in a first win since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix in Italy last year, it was the culmination of a largely frustrating season for the honey badger. The Aussie puts a lot of pressure on himself and sets himself very high goals – so he was irritated that it was taking so long to get used to his new cockpit.

There were signs he’d turned the corner in Belgium – but he lacked consistency after that. On the positive side, he was able to return to Australia over the winter for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Family is very important to him and spending time with them is an important part of his preparation for the season. The chance to do so after such a long time will almost certainly put him in a better position ahead of his second season at McLaren.

READ MORE: Ricciardo calls Monza 2021 win ‘the greatest moment of my career’

“It’s taken longer than he expected and we expected to get more familiar with and comfortable in our car, especially when we have to push it to the absolute maximum in qualifying. But it was good to see how he and the team approached the situation,” Seidl said of Ricciardo. “Both sides have remained positive and maintained trust in each other.

“After the summer break you could see straight away that he was more comfortable, that results were coming and to have a weekend like Monza is great for him, for us as a team, a great motivation to keep going. It’s just a matter of a good break and good preparation for next season, until we see the Daniel we all know from the past, weekend after weekend.”

2021 Italian Grand Prix: Ricciardo takes McLaren’s first win since 2012

Norris and Ricciardo are signed at McLaren at least until the end of 2023, giving them stability through the early stages of the new technical regulations and a line-up that offers plenty of scope to just keep getting better.

“I’m definitely satisfied with the line-up we have,” said Seidl. “We have a good mix of the youth that Lando has and at the same time experience him going into his third year with us; and then we have Daniel, who in the past has shown with all his experience to be a race winner; if he has the right material, he can win races. I’m glad we have these two guys with us for a few more years and I look forward to celebrating much more success with them in the future.”

READ MORE: Ricciardo was made a member of the Order of Australia in the country’s 2022 honors list

McLaren is now also on a much stronger footing financially, having secured the investment from a consortium of US sports investors MSP Sports Capital and selling and leasing back its Woking headquarters long-term to free up money – with the team working on a new wind tunnel on site while updating their CFD skills.

As their form and operational prowess improves, so does their technical ability – putting them closer to the teams at the top.