F1 News: McLaren team principal expects "difficult start" to 2023 season
McLaren's newly appointed team principal - Andrea Stella - insists the team must stay "realistic" about its objectives as the 2023 season approaches.
The Woking-based squad recovered from a diabolical start to the 2022 season to finish in 5th place, with brake issues in pre-season negatively impacting McLaren's initial performance.
Whilst this recovery is nothing to undermine, the path to the front of Formula 1 is still filled with obstacles for the British squad.
McLaren's new factory, for example, will not be completed until halfway through 2023.
This means it will take at least a few years for the investment into new technologies and facilities at McLaren to be felt on track.
As a customer team, there is also plenty of debate about McLaren's chances of success when competing against manufacturer teams.
In an interview quoted by gazzetta.it, Andrea Stella discussed some of these themes when outlining his expectations ahead of the 2023 season:
"For us in McLaren, I still expect a difficult start, but I'm optimistic for the second part of the season.
"The most important goal is to make a fast car. In this sense, it is essential to define the goals in a simple way.
"We need to recover a second, second and a half to the others. The others will also continue to grow, and therefore we are called to grow even faster.
"We must, in any case, remain realistic, aware that we have structural limitations."
Considering Andrea Stella has only recently been appointed as team principal, it seems sensible to avoid raising expectations before next season begins.
There is little to gain and plenty to lose from overstating your potential ahead of a new campaign, so Stella's comments are fairly uncontroversial in this sense.
However, it is difficult to deny the uncertainty and scepticism regarding McLaren's absolute potential in Formula 1 as the British squad looks to break free from the midfield.