McLaren Labelled “Worse” Compared to F1 Rivals Despite Bringing in Major Upgrades at Baku

Once a championship-challenging team, McLaren has been stuck in the midfield for some time now. McLaren came off worse in the fight for 4th in the constructors when Alpine out-developed them in the second half of the season. Now they are being compared to their rival, who has had a shambolic start to the season. Yet, McLaren has been considered as being worse off than them despite bringing upgrades to Baku. Who is this rival and why are Lando Norris and Co. worse off?

McLaren and Ferrari both had an underwhelming start to the 2023 season. Ferrari, who was slated to catch Red Bull amidst their penalties, fell backward behind the likes of Aston Martin. However, many expected McLaren to do what Aston Martin has done this season and catch up to the Top 3. The story was quite the opposite, where McLaren fell to the back of the grid and barely managed to score any points. A restructuring was commenced by Zak Brown after the drop in performance.

McLaren brought a significant upgrade to the 2023 Azerbaijan GP but did not advance up the grid much. The team suggested that their season has only begun now after the upgrades and that this should’ve been their baseline. However, it’s too early to judge the upgrades. Andrew Benson suggested during the F1: Chequered Flag podcast that McLaren’s start to the season is actually worse than Ferrari’s. He suggested that McLaren did make somewhat of an improvement but still had quite a mediocre performance.

According to the F1: Chequered Flag podcast, Andrew Benson said, “McLaren brought the big upgrade which they said is the start of their season. They’ve also had a difficult start to the season, a bit like Ferrari, but even worse. It’s too early to judge the McLaren upgrade.” Talking about their performance at Azerbaijan GP, he said, “They did seem to make a marginal step forwards but nothing to write home about yet.”

Read More: Despite McLaren’s Step Up, Lando Norris Blames Stubborn Alpine’s Strategy for an “Unlucky” Race in Baku

While Ferrari looks like the 2nd or 3rd best car now, they still have the raw pace to beat Red Bull on one lap pace as showcased by Charles Leclerc at Baku by grabbing the pole. McLaren, however, is still worse off than where they were last season and will need a big push to come anywhere close to the Top 4 teams now. Lando Norris also suggested that the pace was not great for the Azerbaijan GP.

Lando Norris on his struggles with the MCL60 at the Azerbaijan GP

Despite the upgrades, Lando Norris indicated that McLaren is still nowhere near the Top 4 teams, with the gap between them still being huge. He explained how he had to push the MCL60 and its tires a lot because of the lack of pace. The Briton expects to make bigger gains at the upcoming Miami GP. For the time being, it looks like they’ve made a tiny step in the right direction.

According to Motorsport.com, Lando Norris said, “I tried my best to keep up with the cars in front of me, but it made me push the tires a lot because we are not on the same level as them. If you look at our lap times, the steps we took probably didn’t help us much here. Maybe we can make bigger gains in mid-speed corners at the Miami circuit, but that’s it for now. We’ve taken a small step forward. It’s more like having a different philosophy.”

Watch this Story: Will Lando Norris Switch Teams From the Miserable McLaren – What are his Options?

What do you think? Will Mclaren be able to catch up with the big boys by the time mid-season break comes?