P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Red Bull’s massive head start makes its F1 2024 pace no surprise – McLaren
Red Bull dominated last year, and all its rivals had hoped that a winter of development would allow them to close in on the world champion squad to make a better fight this campaign. A major overhaul of the Red Bull concept allowed Max Verstappen to dominate last weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, creating the prospect of Red Bull winning every race this year. For McLaren, the situation is not ideal as they had hoped to build on their strong form from last year with the new MCL38, but Team Principal Andrea Stella remains positive, highlighting their substantial performance improvements over the winter. Stella credits Red Bull’s success to turning off upgrades on their RB19 early last year to focus on their 2024 car, while McLaren focused on developing on top of their base concept, leading to promising early indicators for the team’s performance this season. Despite McLaren’s position not being as strong as at the end of last season, Stella is encouraged by the progress made over the winter, indicating that the team could compete well with Aston Martin and Mercedes.
