Ahead of pre-season testing getting officially underway, McLaren became the latest side to hide a vital part of their 2023 car from their competitors, by blurring footage of their shakedown test.
After arriving in Bahrain at the Bahrain International Circuit, McLaren conducted 100km of running as part of a filming shoot and a shakedown test, of which footage was posted to social media.
The Woking-based side are “happy” so far with their 2023 car – the MCL60 – but have clearly been very busy during the winter break.
Following their 100km run, speculation has grown regarding the side’s floor, with McLaren having blurred parts of it prior to posting footage to social media.
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McLaren went to great lengths to give as little away about their floor design as possible, with many now wondering if they’ve discovered something monumental during the off-season.
McLaren aren’t the only side to hide important parts of their 2023 car, with Red Bull having given virtually nothing away so far, as they prepare to defend both titles.
The Austrians even used a version of their 2022 car to unveil their livery for the forthcoming season, unlike their biggest rivals who displayed their actual car for the new season.
All the secrecy just adds to the intrigue ahead of both pre-season testing and the first round of the season, where all of the actual cars will be seen at their maximum potential.
Going back to McLaren, Norris was pleased with how the run went, with the side’s season having so far started “smoothly”, unlike last season where they were plagued by overheating brake issues.
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“I think it was a super important day for us, especially because we need to start this season off better than we did last year,” explained Norris, as reported by Motorsport.com.
“So far we’ve done exactly that, so I’m happy the team are happy. There’s a lot of hard work to make sure we start smoothly, and we start with the reliability, and get everything on top of where it should be. They’ve done exactly that, so yeah, super important.”
A user on Reddit posted an image of McLaren’s floor, with it’s true design likely to be analysed come the start of testing.