Red Bull suffer two major blows as grim Lando Norris reality becomes clearer
McLaren hope to be the main challengers to Red Bull this year having seen no "diminishing returns" on their car improvement work, in what could prove to be a double blow to the Formula 1 champions.
Red Bull had by far the quickest car on the grid in 2023 which made winning the title a rather straightforward affair. But their dominance was also helped by the fact the balance of power among the teams directly behind them was extremely changeable.
Aston Martin began the year as the second-quickest team with Fernando Alonso leading the charge. Mercedes finished it in second place in the constructors' championship, while Ferrari also had their moments when they looked to be second best behind the runaway Red Bulls.
It was McLaren who were arguably the chief challengers in the second half of the year. They started 2023 dreadfully but made swift improvements over the course of the campaign which thrust them into regular podium contention.
There always comes a point when progress begins to slow down. But, in a positive update for the Woking-based squad, team principal Andrea Stella says he has yet to notice any signs of that happening just yet.
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"So far, I have to say we don't see the diminishing returns," said the Italian. "This obviously will have to be proven once we put the car on the ground.
"But when it comes to the wind tunnel development or the CFD development, we see that the gradient we established last year, that led to the Austria development and then the Singapore development, it seems like we can maintain it. So that's also where I would expect the launch car to be at the start of the season."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has already said he expects the performance gap to be closer this year. But he would no doubt prefer to enjoy another season with little stress about whether or not the title will be won, rather than see a team like McLaren become a thorn in their side.
He also has another reason to hope that team in particular does not continues its impressive progress. A strong McLaren that can fight for race wins and titles will be in a much better position to convince ambitious star driver Lando Norris to stay, instead of joining Red Bull who have been interested in the Briton for years.
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown, however, insists there is no way he would entertain the idea of allowing Norris to leave before the end of his current contract, which runs until 2025. "There is no number we would be interested in trading him for," said the American.
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