The race bay at the McLaren Technology Centre is filled with people, all bustling with anticipation. Andrea Stella, Zak Brown, and Oscar Piastri – fresh from a simulator session – all walk in and are greeted by the team, but attention swiftly switches back to what is in front of us, as the 2023 car roars to life.

Fire up is a significant moment in any pre-season: it’s the first sign of life, or as Jonathan Brookes calls it: "the birth of a new car and a new season." There are faces of joy, excitement, and relief - it's not every year that the car switches on at the first time of asking.

"The car comes alive at that point," says Jonathan, Director, Formula 1 Build, Car Assembly and Hydraulics. "Fire up is a culmination of many people's work over months, possibly even years, depending on where they work within the team.

"It is a big moment for the whole factory because so many people have put so much work into it. As I said, it is like the birth of the car, and everyone wants to be there to hear it fire up for the first time.

"Getting to fire up is a long process of late nights and a lot of hours worked across the whole team. Lots of things have to be checked and signed off in isolation before they get fitted onto the car. Fire up is confirmation that everything works correctly and as it should, once it all comes together.”

Having worked at McLaren for 24 years, Jonathan has seen his fair share of McLaren fire ups and now plays an instrumental role in them.

"A good fire up is when everything goes to plan: everything is in the right place, and we're in a good spot," Jonathan explains. "This car build has gone very smoothly. Last year was more difficult for every team in the pit lane due to the new regulations, and new complexities to the cars, whereas some of this year's car is more of a known entity.

"At the moment, everything has gone to plan, and we've been able to work through any small issues that we've had without any major problems."

When fired up for the first time, noise levels reach 83 decibels, according to the app on our Android. The engine is switched off, and Andrea and Zak head across to congratulate their team and share a fist bump – this isn't quite bear hug territory, but an accomplishment worth celebrating, nonetheless.

Oscar is also in conversation with the team when the signal comes for him to head off for a filming session. The team returns to the car, and Jonathan goes back to his desk – there's still an awful lot to do ahead of pre-season testing.

"You learn things every year and adapt your plan for the next year to suit," Jonathan continues. "At the end of every season, we look back on all of the notes that we have taken, throughout the first build period and any opportunities through the race season we have to improve and streamline our processes ready for the 2024 car build.

"There is a lot of reviewing that goes on, and that begins as soon as the car has left for Round 1. Up until then, we've got a serious programme to run through, with new parts constantly turning up for us to fit to the car ahead of launch."

Watch the McLaren Team Launch exclusively on YouTube on 13 February.

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