Aston Martin and McLaren helped prop up a deeply unspectacular Formula 1 campaign for large parts of last year.
Aston’s flying start made it the surprise early package, and Fernando Alonso chased the Red Bulls as it became clear that Mercedes and Ferrari had dropped the ball. When a development path, which attempted to reverse-engineer parts for the 2024 car to fit the AMR23, knocked Aston well off course, McLaren picked up the mantle. Following its Austrian GP update, Lando Norris became the second-highest-scoring driver behind only Max Verstappen.
Their seasons showed two different ways to skin a cat: fast out of the gates versus finishing with a flourish. The choice of lead driver is similarly contrasting. Outside of the top
