MCLAREN MP4-24

2023’s MCL60 isn’t the first F1 car McLaren has transformed from lemon to race winner…

WORDS STUART CODLING

Out of the gate, the car that would become Formula 1’s first hybrid-powered grand prix winner looked peculiar and was embarrassingly slow. When the MP4-24 pulled out of McLaren’s garage at the Autodromo do Algarve on a wet January morning in 2009, rival engineers rolled their eyes when they clocked it was sporting an incongruous 2008-spec rear wing – all the more noticeable given the impact of the sweeping rule changes F1 was adopting. “The track is so wet we need all the downforce we can get,” explained the team’s chief spin doctor, former GP Racing editor Matt Bishop. Nice try, Bish. Afterwards the recently crowned world champion Lewis Hamilton made all the right noises about the feel of the car but the mood within McLaren was downbeat, as reflected by the…

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GP Racing UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 2023

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