2022 was a challenging season for McLaren, with the side having fallen back into the midfield, following three years of substantial progress towards the front.
The new aerodynamic regulations saw the Woking-based side drop to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, after ending the year behind the usual trio and Alpine.
Despite this, team principal Andreas Seidl has been reflecting on the positives that can be taken from 2022, for which there are a few.
Lando Norris claimed the ‘best of the rest’ spot in the Drivers’ Championship and was also the only midfield driver to claim a podium finish.
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His P3 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was the team’s best result of the year by far, at least in regard to on-track performance.
Off the circuit, Seidl has been very pleased at how his side have managed the budget cap, which was introduced in 2021.
Red Bull were found guilty of having breached the 2021 cap towards the end of this season, with many having wanted the Austrians to be punished heavily.
Seidl explained that McLaren were able to continue with their development plan until the Singapore Grand Prix, due to the “good work” done by the team’s financial department.
“We were in a position where we could continue to develop the car as far as Singapore,” Seidl told motorsport-magazin.com.
“Thanks to the good work of our finance department, we were able to create a good basis in relation to the regulation of finances and determine how we want to deal with the budget cap as a team in the future,” the German added.
“Today, it’s everyday business to see how we want to spend our money.”
Spending money wisely, though, still didn’t result in them claiming fourth in the Constructors’, something they desperately wanted.
McLaren’s boss has revealed that they’ve already been working on their on-track performance, something which has seen them reallocate money to other areas.
“Along with the finance people, we have found ways to improve the team’s performance,” he said.
“We have freed up money that we reallocated to the engineers’ side.”
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Seidl confirmed that the side have “started a big initiative” of signing new engineers, in order for the British side to “take the next step”.
“We think it’s important, along with the infrastructure projects that are going on, to take the next step as a team,” said Seidl.
“That’s why we started a big initiative a few weeks ago where we brought in a large number of new engineers.”