The month of September marked McLaren’s overtaking of Red Bull in the 2024 Formula 1 constructors’ standings, an event that was hard to imagine at the beginning of the season. The numbers show that at the start of the year, the Woking team was lagging nearly half a second behind the reigning champions, but the two development packages introduced in Miami and Zandvoort brought gains of around 0.4 seconds each. An impressive recovery, which could lead to one, if not two Formula 1 world titles.
The comeback
McLaren’s season can be divided into three distinct periods. The first stretches from the opening race in Bahrain to the Chinese Grand Prix, during which the average qualifying gap to Red Bull was 0.45 seconds. In Miami, the first upgrade package debuted on the MCL38, reducing McLaren’s average qualifying gap to just over 0.05 seconds. The second period runs from the Florida race to the summer break, excluding the rounds in Montreal and Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, where the qualifying session took place in wet conditions.
Finally, new developments arrived for McLaren at Zandvoort. By that point, the Woking team definitively took the lead in qualifying, with an average advantage of 0.35 seconds over the last three sessions. For each of the two upgrade packages, the numbers indicate a gain of around 0.4 seconds in qualifying compared to Red Bull. Overall, McLaren managed to claw back 0.8 seconds per lap from the world champions in seven months, equating to over 0.1 seconds per month.
Maximum advantage at Monza
Going into more detail, McLaren has shown particular strength on high-downforce tracks, thanks in part to good management of rear tire wear in races on more winding layouts. At the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest, then in Zandvoort and in Singapore, they secured three wins and as many pole positions, with an average qualifying advantage of 0.15 seconds. The same average gap was also recorded on street circuits, such as Monaco, Baku, and Singapore.
Red Bull’s best qualifying performance since Miami came at the Austrian Grand Prix, when Verstappen beat rival Norris by 0.4 seconds. Conversely, McLaren’s largest margin came in the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit, where the world champions were trailing by 0.7 seconds, hindered by balance issues, low-grip track surface, and difficulties with a low-downforce setup. It should be noted that qualifying gaps are influenced by numerous factors and are less representative of race pace comparisons, but they are still indicative of the magnitude of McLaren’s comeback over the past few months.
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