“Faster Than the MCL60”: McLaren’s Marketing Gimmick With $9 Billion Worth Partner Faces Backlash From Fans Frustrated by Team’s Poor Performance

After losing out to Alpine for 4th in the championship last year McLaren was expected to bounce back in 2023. However, before the season could begin, team CEO Zak Brown released a piece of depressing news. He revealed that the team was running behind on some targets. That meant that the car they are sporting for the first few races is not the final product. Results confirmed that, as in both races, Lando Norris finished P17. This hasn’t gone down well with the Papaya Army, who have called the MCL60 all sorts of things in the hope that their team will pull up their socks. The Woking-based team tried to win fans over with a new marketing gimmick, but that too has failed to lift the spirits.

McLaren has taken some steps to overcome the gap with its rivals as quickly as possible. That involved making some changes at the very top. They recently let go of their Executive Technical Director, James Key and roped in former Ferrari top figure David Sanchez to take up the new role of Technical Director, Car Concept and Performance. The rejig too failed to convince fans who straight-up demanded Zak Brown’s resignation.

McLaren’s another move to woo fans fails to impress

As part of their promotional campaign for their $9 billion worth sponsor Lego, McLaren recently put out a bunch of photos on Twitter with a full-sized Lego McLaren car that they unveiled last year ahead of the Australian GP. In the post’s caption, they wrote, “McLaren, but make it LEGO Technic. Unveiling this beauty at the #AusGP last year.”

The post quickly drew negative comments, ranging from MCL60’s comparison with a tractor to sarcastic demands of actually fielding the car in the next race.

Take a look at some of those reactions.

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It has become an ongoing joke in the F1 realm to compare the MCL60 with a tractor.

One fan had a hilarious Guenther Steiner joke to take a dig at McLaren’s situation.

Some fans found the pictures fascinating and appreciated the team’s effort.

Others shared their own scale models they built at home.

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The Papaya team is expected to field some changes ahead of the race in Baku. Do you think it will make a significant enough difference to change their fortunes?