Why it is game on for McLaren
After a torrid pre-season in 2011, McLaren was under pressure to produce a good car from the off in 2012. Technical director Paddy Lowe says the goal has been achieved
After what even team principal Martin Whitmarsh conceded was an "abysmal" testing programme before the 2011 season, McLaren made no secret of the fact that a much better build-up to the forthcoming season was going to be vital for its ambitions
That pressure to ensure things were improved this time out meant there were always going to be a few nerves at the outfit ahead of the first running of the MP4-27 at Jerez in Spain this week.
Share Or Save This Story
Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.
More from Jonathan Noble
McLaren needs to understand puzzling “up and down” F1 form - Piastri
The F1 hero to zero dividing line that has never been so thin
Mercedes taking action to cure F1 car's “underlying balance” problem
Why Audi and Verstappen have complicated Formula 1’s driver market decisions
‘Metronomic’ Verstappen may rule F1, but it won’t last forever - Horner
RB brands Ricciardo/Tsunoda Chinese GP crashes “unnecessary”
Wolff: Mercedes can't just keep living off F1 ‘bright spots’
Sargeant baffled about not being told of illegal F1 safety car overtake
Latest news
The plot twist that gave Arrow McLaren’s Ward his first IndyCar win as team principal
Formula E’s new Gen3 Evo car breaks cover
The weekly reality check that has kept MotoGP hype off of Acosta so far in 2024
F2 veteran Ghiotto to make IndyCar debut with Dale Coyne Racing at Barber
Autosport Plus
The F1 hero to zero dividing line that has never been so thin
How Stroll and Magnussen revealed the scale of F1’s racing and rules problems
Did F1's new sprint format work?
Chinese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2024
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.