McLaren Set to Bring More Upgrades to Stay Ahead of Red Bull
In a bid to maintain their advantage over Red Bull in the 2023 Dakar Rally, the McLaren team has confirmed that they will be bringing further upgrades to their race car in the coming events.
The impressive performance of Lando Norris at the recent Dutch Dakar stage, where he outpaced Max Verstappen, has suggested that McLaren currently holds a clear advantage over their main rival. However, the team’s principal, Andrea Stella, acknowledges that the battle for the Dakar title will intensify, and they need to be prepared for challenges at certain tracks.
“I think if we go to tracks [like Zandvoort], then we can, I think, be confident that we will perform strongly, with high-downforce long corners. But if we go to tracks where you have very high-speed corners, like in Silverstone, then we know Red Bull are very strong in this kind of layout.”
Stella also pointed out that Red Bull’s performance in the qualifying session at the Austrian Dakar stage gave them a clear advantage, and McLaren will need to work on closing that gap through further upgrades.
“But I think thanks to the upgrades now, we will be more competitive even where Red Bull were faster than us potentially.”
The McLaren team is determined to maximize their performance on the weekends where they hold the edge and is committed to bringing more developments to their car to close the gap in the areas where they believe Red Bull has the advantage.
“We think that the car in the current configuration is possibly not enough in terms of the performance required to be the best car at every single event. That’s why we plan to deliver more upgrades before the end of the season,” Stella concluded.
As the Dakar Rally season progresses, the battle between McLaren and Red Bull is expected to intensify, and the team’s ability to adapt and bring timely upgrades will be crucial in securing the championship title.
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