5
46 GP RACING JULY 2020
McLAREN IS A TEAM ON THE UP
At the end of 2020, Daniel Ricciardo will be
on the move again – this time from Renault
to McLaren. His decision closed the Ferrari/
McLaren seat swap saga that began when
Sebastian Vettel’s impending departurefrom
Maranello was announced andCarlos Sainz was
revealed as Vettel’s replacement.
Of the many factors behind Ricciardo’s
decision to join his fifth F1 squad, following stints
at HRT, Toro Rosso and Red Bull, the headline
selling point is McLaren’s recent resurgence.
After the three years of misery and pain with
Honda, followed by a revealing first year
using Renault customer power, the eight-time
constructors’ champion squad finished fourth in
2019 – its best result since 2012 – one place and
54 points clear of Ricciardo’s current employer.
Much of this is down to the major staffing
restructure McLaren has enacted. Zak Brown
felt when he became McLaren Racing CEO in
November 2016 that there were “a lot of chefs
in the kitchen” causing a “lack of focus and
direction”. Brown has suggested that Ricciardo
decided infavour of Renault over McLaren back
in 2018 because he couldn’t seewhere McLaren
was heading. But now he can. Last year, Brown
installed Andreas Seidl and James Key as
McLaren’s team principal and technical director.
But major changes had already begun before they
arrived, as shown by McLaren’s 2019 MCL34
making clear aerodynamic progress as the squad
learned from its 2018 chassis shortcomings.
While there is evidence of McLaren’s progress
through late 2018 and lastyear, another factor
that should not be understated in Ricciardo’s
move is how his upcoming new home is planning
for the future. Whether that’s by making painful
cuts to see it through the immediate pain of the
COVID-19 pandemic’s economic shock, as well
as operate as an efficient outfit under F1’s new
financial rules, or by last year committing to
building a newwindtunnel and driver-in-loop
simulator, McLaren now looks like a team that
has fought its fires and is finally ready to rise
again from the ashes. And Ricciardo will get
to ride thatwave.“OF T HE MANYFACTORS
BEHIND RICCIARDO’S
DECISIONTO JOIN HIS FIFTH
F1 SQUAD, THE HEADLINE
SELLING POINT IS McLAREN’S
RECENT RESURGENCE”
46 GP RACING JULY 2020
McLAREN IS A TEAM ON THE UP
At the end of 2020, Daniel Ricciardo will be
on the move again – this time from Renault
to McLaren. His decision closed the Ferrari/
McLaren seat swap saga that began when
Sebastian Vettel’s impending departurefrom
Maranello was announced andCarlos Sainz was
revealed as Vettel’s replacement.
Of the many factors behind Ricciardo’s
decision to join his fifth F1 squad, following stints
at HRT, Toro Rosso and Red Bull, the headline
selling point is McLaren’s recent resurgence.
After the three years of misery and pain with
Honda, followed by a revealing first year
using Renault customer power, the eight-time
constructors’ champion squad finished fourth in
2019 – its best result since 2012 – one place and
54 points clear of Ricciardo’s current employer.
Much of this is down to the major staffing
restructure McLaren has enacted. Zak Brown
felt when he became McLaren Racing CEO in
November 2016 that there were “a lot of chefs
in the kitchen” causing a “lack of focus and
direction”. Brown has suggested that Ricciardo
decided infavour of Renault over McLaren back
in 2018 because he couldn’t seewhere McLaren
was heading. But now he can. Last year, Brown
installed Andreas Seidl and James Key as
McLaren’s team principal and technical director.
But major changes had already begun before they
arrived, as shown by McLaren’s 2019 MCL34
making clear aerodynamic progress as the squad
learned from its 2018 chassis shortcomings.
While there is evidence of McLaren’s progress
through late 2018 and lastyear, another factor
that should not be understated in Ricciardo’s
move is how his upcoming new home is planning
for the future. Whether that’s by making painful
cuts to see it through the immediate pain of the
COVID-19 pandemic’s economic shock, as well
as operate as an efficient outfit under F1’s new
financial rules, or by last year committing to
building a newwindtunnel and driver-in-loop
simulator, McLaren now looks like a team that
has fought its fires and is finally ready to rise
again from the ashes. And Ricciardo will get
to ride thatwave.“OF T HE MANYFACTORS
BEHIND RICCIARDO’S
DECISIONTO JOIN HIS FIFTH
F1 SQUAD, THE HEADLINE
SELLING POINT IS McLAREN’S
RECENT RESURGENCE”