Continuing our team ratings for the 2021 season. In reverse order of Constructors Championship. Next is the McLaren Mercedes F1 Team. Past teams can be viewed here:
10. Haas-Ferrari
9. Alfa Romero Racing Ferrari
8. Williams Mercedes
7. Aston Martin Mercedes
6. Scuderia Alpha Tauri Honda
5. Alpine Renault
Preseason
After finishing 3rd in 2020, McLaren were confident they could continue their recovery exercise. The goal of getting back to the top of the Formula 1 grid.
Development over the winter focused on integrating the Mercedes engine into the McLaren. After her move from Renault Power.
In the last phase of the 2020 season, a lot of development work was carried out in preparation for the new Mercedes engine. As a result, development constraints were not as problematic as they could have been. However, this meant that McLaren could not really develop other parts of their car.
McLaren also lost Carlos Sainz to Ferrari and had replaced him with seven-time race winner Daniel Ricciardo.
Lando Norris was impressive in 2020 but it was widely believed that Ricciardo would become the new star driver. Much younger, Norris is still learning and developing.
McLaren’s driver line-up was considered one of the strongest on the grid. After a good practice in Bahrain, the team was quite confident that things were going in the right direction.
McLaren’s goal was to consolidate its 3rd place in the Constructors’ Championship. Hopefully they could also compete with Mercedes and Red Bull at some point.
The season
In testing, McLaren had an eye-catching fix for the 2021 rear diffuser changes. It seemed like they found a way around the rules limiting their size. Ultimately, while it’s a novel approach, no other team has adopted it. Showing it clearly wasn’t the performance enhancer it originally made it seem.
McLaren appeared to have the third fastest car. A good position to strengthen their position from last year and give the team optimism for the year to come.
In Bahrain, Ricciardo was looking strong until he made contact and effectively ended his race. Norris, on the other hand, took a strong 4th place.
At Imola, Norris was set for a front row start until his lap time was erased due to track restrictions in Q3. Nevertheless, he managed the last podium place in the race. Imola was the start of the divergence for the driver results. Norris was consistently strong and producing good results while Ricciardo struggled with the car.
Bahrain’s performance is deceptive. Ricciardo was able to draw on his testing experience and help him perform. Likewise, in Spain, where many tests have been conducted in the past, Ricciardo showed more pace than before.
Norris was by far the faster rider early in the season and had some great results. The podium at Imola and also a podium at Monaco where the team had a special livery for their fuel supplier Gulf.
The strong results continued, with Norris generally taking the best position behind the top teams. When the situation permitted, he would even beat their second drivers.
Another podium came at the Austrian Grand Prix where he was so impressive in 2020. Ricciardo definitely fell further behind his teammates.
In a wet Spa qualifying, Norris was extremely quick and was fighting for pole position. However, he was the first driver in Q3 and aquaplaned into the wall, causing significant damage and ending his qualifying session.
At Monza the McLaren was very strong because it had little drag and the drivers qualified for the sprint race at the front. A slow start in the sprint put the two McLarens ahead of Hamilton and with an engine penalty from Bottas only Verstappen was ahead of the race line-up.
Ricciardo got off to a great start and took the lead from Verstappen and was a position he would never relinquish. Norris capitalized on the titular protagonists’ fall and a great move around the outside of Leclerc propelled him into second place.
McLaren were the only team to draw 2-1 with the result at Monza all season. The cheering scenes around the team and Ricciardo in particular were fantastic to watch. It showed how much this result meant to Ricciardo and McLaren.
Norris followed that up with another strong weekend in Sochi, taking his first pole. He should have won if the team hadn’t miscalculated the weather. Allowed Norris to stay out too long when he should have pitted on intermediate tires. He didn’t want to give up the lead either, so he wanted to stay out.
Ricciardo finished fourth in Sochi after correctly assessing the conditions. His performance before the rain wasn’t too impressive.
In the second half of the season Ferrari came back strong and both drivers scored good points. Ricciardo was still struggling to score good points and it looked like 3rd place in the constructors’ battle would go to Ferrari.
Ricciardo had a strong weekend in Austin but otherwise wasn’t as quick as Norris in general. A faulty fuel sensor in Qatar meant he was to save fuel in the first part of the race. Laps more than 2 seconds behind Norris’ pace at some points. Ricciardo’s chances in the race were already over when the error was discovered. He was too far down the field and unable to score any good points.
After the Sochi incident, Norris’ results weren’t as strong as they were at that race. There were a few incidents beyond his control, but it seemed like it affected him mentally. He didn’t compete as often with the Ferraris, who had made a step forward themselves.
In the end, Norris’ weaker results were partly responsible for McLaren not being able to achieve 3rd place in the constructors’ championship. Although the main reason they dropped to 4th place was Ricciardo. He failed to secure results early in the season when the McLaren was stronger.
highlights
McLaren was the only team to achieve a one-two in a race this season. It clearly marks Monza as the highest point.
Ricciardo’s win was a big deal for him, he admitted after the race, as he struggled with his performance.
Norris had an all-around strong season. A third podium in Monaco stands out. McLaren didn’t expect to be as fast as Red Bull or Ferrari.
low points
The team will likely see Sochi as the lowest point. Norris was in for his maiden win in F1 after his maiden pole position. However, the team was unaware of a second wave of rain towards the end of the race. They didn’t overrule Norris to pit like Mercedes did Hamilton and it lost the win to Norris.
For his normally very high standards, Ricciardo has had a poor season. There were many qualifying sessions where he didn’t make it out of Q2 and even Q1!
For a driver who has high expectations of himself, those will have been very weak points. But also for the team that hired him to be a very strong rider for them.
Next season
McLaren’s goal for next year is to continue the improvements they have made over the past few years.
They hope the new regulations will allow them to stay ahead of the competition. A view held by many teams disappointed with their current position.
McLaren feels at the top of the grid and wants to get back there as soon as possible. The immediate goal for 2022 will be to reclaim 3rd place in the constructors’ championship from Ferrari and close the gap to the top.
With Lando Norris they have one of the most exciting drivers in the field. With a good enough car he is clearly capable of winning races. Norris is still young and is probably getting stronger every year.
From their other driver, McLaren is hoping to get a lot more out of Daniel Ricciardo. If his time at Renault is any indication, his second year with a team is significantly stronger. Ricciardo and McLaren are hoping for the same thing here.
2022 will definitely be interesting for the team. Will Norris still be such an impressive rider if Ricciardo performs at the level he is capable of?
Other news: Highlights of Formula E racing 1
Main image source: Embed Getty Images
