Was the AustralianGP a turning point for McLaren? F1
September 12 2021. McLaren engineers dressed in papaya emerge from the team’s garage into the Monza sun. With one Emerson Fittipaldi amongst their contingent, the mechanics and engineers climb up the metal fence to celebrate as their two drivers cross the finish line, McLaren’s first one-two since Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton achieved the feat in 2010.
McLaren’s problems can actually be dated back to that Monza win. The season was 14 races old and just six months separated the Italian race from the opening grand prix of a new era which saw the biggest technical regulations changes in recent memory. The MCL36, designed under the leadership of James Key, was lacking in comparison to its predecessors. It was a pattern that would continue throughout 2022 and see McLaren lose out on P4 to Alpine.Even before the season started, worrying comments were emerging from the MTC.
But in Melbourne, something seemed to have finally clicked. With the help of the chaos in front that saw Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon all retire along with a five-second penalty for Carlos Sainz, McLaren scored their first points of the year and Oscar Piastri secured the first of his career.
With the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, Formula 1 now enters a four-week hibernation before emerging from its nest for the race in Baku, giving McLaren time to work on the crucial upgrades and in fairness to them, even during their troubles, they have never been a team to stand still.
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