McLaren’s Team Principal, Andrea Stella, has emphasized that there is a lot of work to do before the season’s first race following the unveiling of the MCL38.
The season begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 2, setting the stage for a historic 24-race season, with pre-season testing scheduled the week before at the same venue.
The team from Woking was early to reveal its livery in January but was among the last to formally introduce its latest competitor. Stella disclosed that the new model features several innovations.
However, similar to the previous season’s slow start, the focus is swiftly shifting towards ongoing development throughout the season.
“The team are excited to present the MCL38 today and to see it on track for the first time,” said Stella, ahead of a filming day at Silverstone.
“Going into this year, we look to build on the momentum of last season but are realistic in the knowledge that every team will have made progress and found competitiveness for their 2024 cars.
“We now have everything in place from an infrastructure, people and culture perspective so we continue to push forward and build on the work done to get us back to front of the grid.”
“Before we hit the track for competitive sessions, we have a lot of work to do, including putting the MCL38 through its paces during the Bahrain pre-season test,” added Stella.
“The team has done a good job over the winter, and we are confident we can hit the ground running, but we know we have important tasks at hand before the season starts.
“There are a number of innovations on the car, but not all the areas we want to address have been completed for our launch-spec car. Those areas now become the focus of our in-season development, which is already in progress.
“My thanks go to the entire team, both trackside and at MTC and MRC for their great efforts in ensuring the car was ready to hit the track today, as well as our colleagues at Mercedes HPP for their continued collaboration.
“We now turn our attention to the long season ahead as we look forward to Bahrain Testing next week.”
