How McLaren finally began its recovery
McLaren’s nightmare finally came to an end in 2019. Its comfortable fourth place in the constructors’ championship represented the best-possible result considering where the team was coming from. New driver line-up Carlos Sainz Jr and Lando Norris excelled and the green shoots of recovery were clear for all to see. There’s a long way to go before it can return to the glory days, but the fug of the Honda era has now cleared and the lessons of last year’s rude awakening have clearly been learned.
Eight times in qualifying and on nine occasions in the race McLaren ended up as the best of the midfielders, and it would have happened more frequently but for reliability problems and the occasional on-track incident and pitstop errors.
“It’s been a much, much better season. It’s been enjoyable since Australia to come to the race track and know that you’re fighting for points every weekend,” says McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown. “The camaraderie among the team,
