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Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Team Principal Andrea Stella made an optimistic forecast. That wasn’t like him in the prevailing circumstances, but he knew what the data was now saying about the upgraded MCL60, and the confidence of his prediction made a big impression on CEO Zak Brown. Especially when it transpired that he had been spot-on in his optimism.

Like Jordan in 1998, who failed to score a single point in the first half of the season, but won later courtesy of Damon Hill at Spa, or us in 2009, when we turned a horrible start to the season into victory for Lewis Hamilton in Hungary, Andrea and his technical team were proving that dramatic in-season progress really was still possible.

“That was a bit unlike him to kind of call his shot,” Zak remembers with a smile, “but he got it right. So, he knows he's not afraid to lay it out there and make some bold predictions, without them being over-the-top predictions. He just calls it as he sees it.”

Before you can turn something around, however, you need to understand what’s wrong in the first place. And that was where Andrea, our newly appointed Team Principal, proved to be a secret weapon.

We began 2023 with what was essentially an evolution of the MCL36, which had been produced ahead of several major facility improvements - most notably, significant upgrades to our machine shop, our wind tunnel, the next-generation simulator, and our new composites facility – and a technical team restructure.

After being promoted to Team Principal ahead of the 2023 season, Andrea began to take full charge of the necessary investigations and investment in change. He has worked within many areas at McLaren since joining in 2015, but was now in a position to impose his rational thinking on all technical matters.

With clear technical direction and objectives carefully defined in the short-, medium- and long-term, our team were able to start realising their true potential. A much greater understanding of what the car was doing – and more crucially, what it should be doing – had unlocked key performance.

The first results of these cerebral labours were seen in the form of updates in Austria, with more following in a steady stream through Canada and up to Silverstone. Principally, these included a revised floor, revised bargeboards, significantly revised and sculpted sidepods, and a revised front wing.

These all had a very significant effect on the car’s performance. They alleviated the porpoising problem, an inherent instability on fast corners, and a loss of downforce mid-corner and thus a frustrating tendency to understeer. And they enhanced tyre performance and longevity, as well as the car’s basic dynamics.

After being beaten in a duel for second place by Lando at Silverstone during the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton described the revised MCL60 as “a rocket ship,” and pointed out that its technical path was the one he thought Mercedes should be following. Already much faster in Austria and Canada, the car now also had a front wing with greater aerodynamic ‘outwash,’ and a further benefit was an overall improvement due to the combined changes in the overall levels of under-car downforce generated.

Over the remainder of the season, it quickly became clear that the Silverstone performance had not been a track-specific flash in the pan, and the continually upgraded car kept taking the fight to Mercedes and Ferrari and closer to Red Bull. On more than one occasion, it brought serious pressure to bear on Max Verstappen and the dominant RB19.

Up until Austria, we had amassed 17 points. From Austria onwards, the team went on a rampage: 12+30+28+16+8+4+24+33+47+23+14+26+2+18. That’s an astonishing 285 in just 14 races.

Of course, nobody got close to Red Bull’s final score of 860. Mercedes were second overall with 409, Ferrari third with 406, McLaren fourth with 302. If you divide Mercedes’ tally by 22, they scored an average of 18.6 points per race compared to Ferrari’s 18.4 and our average of 13.7.

But if you look at our average from those 14 races from Austria onwards, our score per race with the MCL60 in its intended form was an impressive 20.3.

“I think the impressive thing is that it is the same people, but it's a different team,” Zak says of the current set-up. “It's a different team because of the leadership of Andrea. His work ethic, his communication skills, his demand for performance… He has a great ability to look at commentary from his team through their lens. These are all just great leadership qualities in running a Formula 1 team. He sets very clear direction, he has very high expectations, great follow-through, and a tremendous amount of empowerment.

“When he restructured the technical structure, initially it was a bit, ‘How do you have three technical directors?’ And I think his view was that he's actually what we call a technical team principal. So, one could argue, ‘What does a technical director do?’ They facilitate bringing together all the great technical expertise to the set of directions, which he does.

“I kind of call him The Swan. He looks like he's a nice guy cruising above the water, but underneath, he's paddling fast. He's very tough, he's very professional, very articulate in his delivery. He's not political at all, he's got no ego at all. And I'm pleasantly surprised not just by what he's brought to the table, but how quickly it's had the impact that it's had because I think we all see that the turnaround has been pretty awesome.”

Our new-look Technical Team was made up of several long-serving staff members, who were promoted and empowered by Team Principal Andrea Stella and tasked with finding solutions to improve our performance. They’ve succeeded admirably in that aim.

“So, it's the same people that gave us the car at the start that have given us the car in the second half of the year,” Zak says. “The only difference is the new Team Principal, the new Technical Director structure, and a new head of aero. Everyone else has been the same people with the same tools. Andrea just had a bigger role, and everyone has stepped up and is led by example.”

David Sanchez from Ferrari and Rob Marshall from Red Bull join for 2024, further strengthening our core.

“I would've rather not had the start to the season that we did,” Zak says. “But, actually, I think it's made us a better team. I think we will have more momentum going into next year, starting from where we've come from, than if we would've been where we are now all year. So, in many ways, I think it's definitely made us a stronger team.

“They start talking about taking more technical risks, being more aggressive. Like we don't want to be just as good. We need to be better. We knew we'd be at the sharp end, and we want the really sharp end. So, there's a real quiet confidence but no arrogance. You can see the energy in the team.”

There is more good news, given that the MCL60 is an evolution of the MCL36. If the revised car has been turned into something as competitive as it was in the latter half of 2023, then the directional path it has mapped out for the 2024 car has been created to eliminate many of its remaining shortcomings, notably a sensitivity to certain types of track layout and grip conditions.

With two strong young drivers and a competitive car, things are looking positive as we head into 2024.

“I would be disappointed if we're not as competitive as we are now,” Zak told media in Abu Dhabi. “I would be disappointed if we're not at the sharp end of the field, challenging for race wins.”

Where does our turnaround of form in the 2023 season sit within the history of Formula 1? Do you think this is F1’s greatest comeback? Let us know on social media using #FansLikeNoOther.