The 2023 season couldn’t have started on a worse note for McLaren. Sitting plum last in the standings, as we speak, the Woking-based team have their work cut out for themselves over the season. That being said, you’d expect them to focus solely on their gremlins before reaching out for the stars. However, in a spectacular turn of events, it would appear that, the team have already set their sights on the Raging Bulls.

As things stand, Red Bull is in a league of their own. Their out-and-out pace, currently, is impossible to be matched by anyone. Naturally, you’d expect them to have a target on their backs. Everyone wants to catch them. But the team least likely to do that in the short term is the one actually ringing off the bells of intent. After the woes of Bahrain and Saudi, the team sits in 10th with zero points. Then why does it have ambitions to match the likes of Red Bull?

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According to team principal Andrea Stella, “We’ve had some outstanding seasons in the past years, when we were facing pretty close competition for victory,” as quoted by Motorsport.com [translated via Google Translate].

He continued, “At the moment we are facing a season dominated by one team, we have to accept that. But I think with all the information we have right now, we have no excuse to say we don’t know what the other teams are going to do. That’s why I keep saying other teams should take this opportunity to improve.”

“After all, it’s such a sport that if you’re faster you win races. I don’t think there’s an easy solution to that.”  

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Before the season began, there was a lot of hype around the team. But where does the team stand now, two races into the season?

Stella gives an honest assessment of McLaren’s struggles

When the season was about to start, McLaren was really hopeful of doing a good job with their car MCL60. However, by their own admission, they failed to hit their own developmental targets. But how much has that costed the team?

Stella told Motorsport.com, “The grid is very close from fifth to last, the gaps are very small. So I can’t give a number on where we think we are. Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes are definitely one step ahead of us. Probably Alpine as well. The rest of the grid is pretty close together. So I can’t give you a number on where we are, but I think we’re somewhere in the middle.”

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Can McLaren really deliver and close the gap to Red Bull by the end of the season?