McLaren has won the F1 championship. Teams are complex organizations composed of various divisions dedicated to specific areas of the final product, namely the cars. It is therefore very difficult to attribute success or failure to a single team member. This premise is necessary to contextualize the content of this article. Without a doubt, the main surprise of the F1 season was the team from Woking. Despite the evident progress shown in the second half of 2023, it was hard to predict a return to success in the Constructors’ Championship after a 26-year drought.
Recently, Andrea Stella explained that the secret to success lies in investments made in infrastructure and facilities (e.g., the wind tunnel). However, according to the team principal from Orvieto, the most important investment for success was in people. The former race engineer for Fernando Alonso used the expression “unlocking the talent” already present in the Woking team, focusing on simple and clear objectives. Certainly, one of the highly talented individuals who joined the historic British team in January 2024 is Rob Marshall.
The experienced British engineer is one of those professionals who has not gained the spotlight despite his significant contributions to the various teams he has worked with, which undoubtedly impacted their final results. In this case, we are talking about the mind behind the controversial mass damper system that contributed to Renault’s success in 2005. He was a cornerstone of Red Bull from 2006 to 2023 as chief designer, effectively one of the key figures in the inner circle closely associated with Adrian Newey.
F1, McLaren: How Valuable is Rob Marshall?
The basic design of the McLaren MCL38 is certainly not the work of the designer from Taunton, as he officially became a member of the Woking team only starting January 1, 2024. Nevertheless, during the last competitive campaign, he was involved in the development process of the papaya-colored single-seater. Following the introduction of the first major update package in Miami, the car driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri began to soar, becoming the benchmark in the category. Did Rob Marshall contribute to McLaren’s significant performance leap?
Cynically, one might think that Fallows brought Adrian Newey‘s expertise to Aston Martin but failed to further develop the excellent technical foundation of the AMR23. His subsequent dismissal reinforces this belief. For this reason, it will be very interesting to assess the competitiveness of the first car created under Marshall’s supervision. This will help determine whether the experienced British engineer has merely shone by reflected light or if he himself will be able to inspire and elevate the group he currently leads.
The upcoming season is expected to feature even fiercer competition than the previous campaign. On this point, there are few doubts. The next goal for the historic British team, as we know, is to achieve a drivers’ championship victory, a feat only grazed, and not even closely, during the 2024 championship. To aim for both world titles, no false starts will be allowed. The next McLaren must be competitive from the very first round in Australia. Last season, Max Verstappen secured victory by dominating the first stint of the season.
This strategy allowed him to approach the second half of the campaign in “ant mode,” settling for results just behind his rival to secure the title. Marshall’s first creation will have to pick up where the season left off at Yas Marina. Only in this way will it become clear how fundamental his contribution to McLaren is and how undervalued his departure from Milton Keynes management might have been, at a time when Red Bull is going through anything but a good and effective period technically in F1.
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