McLaren might be one of the most successful teams in the history of Formula One, but if Bahrain was anything to go by, they are in for a very long year.
Their new rookie, Oscar Piastri, started 18th and didn’t get to complete a pit stop in anger on his Grand Prix debut, with the Australian telling his engineer that he “lost the gearbox”.
It was seemingly an electronic issue according to team boss Zak Brown on the broadcast, with the men in papaya attempting to rectify the issue with a steering wheel change.
At the eventual pit stop, the MCL60 failed to restart, ending Piastri’s race early.
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Teammate Lando Norris didn’t fare much better, with the Brit finishing last amongst finishers after being forced to pit a remarkable six times, coming close to Alain Prost’s record of seven from the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park.
Norris’ car was dogged with a pneumatic pressure issue that saw him only able to complete ten or so laps at a time to allow the mechanics to refill the system using an airline, only bothering to complete the length of the race to accumulate data given McLaren’s well-documented struggles in testing.
Norris finished two laps down on the lead lap, and joked afterwards that the only positive was that the “mechanics had a lot of pitstop practice.”
Journalist Becky Weaver called it “almost embarrassing” watching the “terrible” McLarens struggle in Bahrain, while South African motorsport writer Nikesh Kooverjee joked that “McLaren built this year’s car using parts from Ali Express”.
McLaren finished last week’s preseason testing having completed only 312 laps, 127 down on last year’s backmarkers Williams.
Team Principal, Andrea Stella, said it wasn’t “the start of the season for which (McLaren) were hoping.”
“Points were certainly possible today, the cars had competitive pace in race stints, and Lando particularly was in a strong position.
“We leave Bahrain knowing we have work to do but the season is long.”
McLaren were widely tipped to struggle heading into this season, with Stella saying after the team failed to reach Q3 that the team had struggled with aerodynamic efficiency.
“The objective in terms of aerodynamic efficiency is the one where we are shy of our target,” she said.
This has compounded McLaren’s existing woes with aerodynamics over the last couple of seasons, which were at the core of Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles with the car.
Social media was ablaze watching McLaren’s failures in Bahrain, and with Ricciardo still one of the most popular figures in Formula One as a result of Netflix series Drive to Survive, there is a strong suggestion on social media that he may be feeling vindicated by his career choices.
Lando Norris characterised last year’s car as “undriveable” when the perfect balance wasn’t stuck, and with the car itself incredibly inconsistent to drive, it was Norris’ superior ability to adapt to a misbehaving vehicle that allowed him to outperform Ricciardo consistently.
Stella admitted that McLaren are reliant on significant upgrade packages to recover in the Constructors’ Championship, saying they “will have to be aggressive with updates.”
Ricciardo has been criticised for a string of career moves that haven’t worked out for the Australian, but has demonstrably been at his best in stable chassis’ such as the Red Bulls of the early V6 hybrid era, where he finished 3rd in the World Drivers’ Championship alongside Sebastian Vettel in 2014.
Ricciardo was eventually pushed out from Woking in favour of Piastri, and has wound up back at his old team as a reserve driver for 2023, but despite not having a full-time drive, may have dodged a bullet.