Before all the car launches were done, McLaren had been extremely secretive about their MCL38. Many teams thought that the Papaya Army had done something revolutionary considering the hype being built around it. After the car was showcased, although a few interesting features like the down-sloping ramp-style bodywork were noticed, the testing results were awaited.

With the pre-season testing complete, the teams and their drivers have a better gauge of where they stand. And while the Papaya drivers looked highly optimistic about the car before the testing, it looks like things have taken a turn.

McLaren is not aiming to win at the Bahrain GP

The 2024 season will kick off with the Bahrain GP at the Sakhir circuit and after the pre-season test, Lando Norris told Motorsport, “Bahrain has never been a good circuit for us. We’ve never had one of our strongest races ever in Bahrain.” This pessimism was questioned and Norris replied, “We’ve made the car quicker and that’s very clear from all the data we’ve got. But certain things haven’t allowed us to progress as much as what I would have liked, and I think as we all would have liked as a team.”

As noticed last year, McLaren had a rough start. However, they were quick to pick up their pace and modify their car to bring them podiums. Norris continued, “Some of those issues I just highlighted a lot here in Bahrain just because of” the nature of the circuit. So I’m still confident when we go to certain circuits we were very fast at last year, like going back to Suzuka and things like that, I’m confident we can still be one of the best cars.”

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Explaining that the main issue is the first race, Norris said, “Bahrain has just not suited our car ever, necessarily. And exactly for that reason, I think that’s why we’re going to struggle a bit more here. But I’m confident we can turn it around later down the line.” McLaren has ended up in the midfield and the team is not happy about it. The team has put their trust in Zak Brown and Lando Norris’ hope is that their team competes with Ferrari. But that’s not his ultimate goal.

Will Lando Norris regret signing a multi-year contract with McLaren?

Zak Brown has always known the potential that Lando Norris has. Known as one of the top 6 drivers on the grid, many think that he is wasting his talents with the papaya army. In the past, Red Bull had their eyes on the driver as they thought he was a great fit alongside Max Verstappen.

But when Norris had the chance, he denied Christian Horner’s offers and signed a multi-year contract with McLaren. According to how 2023 played out for him, this seems like a big risk that the driver took. Last year, the driver went ahead to say that it is difficult to even score points in the car, let alone win podiums. However, that did not stop him from finishing 6th in the driver’s standing.

Judging by his reactions to the new car and the performance it showed during pre-testing, it looks like it will be difficult for McLaren to start the 2024 season by putting pressure on their opponents. Whether he regrets signing the deal with McLaren is yet unknown and it’s too early to say right now. But McLaren might have a trick up their sleeve to surprise the world.

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That being said, do you think that McLaren has the potential to get into the top 3 teams on the grid? If so? Who do you think they would replace?