Red Bull must look over their shoulder in 2024: 'We can make up for it'

McLaren seemed to be the biggest threat to Red Bull Racing in the second half of the season. Although Red Bull ended up winning almost all the races, Andrea Stella's team seemed to be getting closer and closer.

McLaren started the 2023 Formula 1 season very poorly, but after some internal changes, they found their way up from the Austrian Grand Prix onwards. After the summer break, McLaren were even the closest team to Red Bull Racing. Stella hopes to get even closer with his team in 2024.

Why McLaren think they can challenge Red Bull

"In some qualifying we were very close or even faster, like in Qatar and Brazil. In the race, however, Red Bull were driving away from us, especially in the second part of the stints. Then they are two to four tenths ahead of us. We have to make up for that in the winter," the McLaren team boss told Auto, Motor und Sport.

McLaren's capability of making a leap was showed during the 2023 F1 season. They were well behind Red Bull in the first half of the year, only to end up being the second team on the grid in the closing stages of the season. For now, Stella also sees no reason to believe that this progression will stagnate.

"I think we can take another step next year. Maybe not as much as in the second half of last season, but I still see a chance to find lap time," the Italian concluded. With the dominance, Red Bull did have the advantage that attention could turn early towards the RB20, but they are not worried about that at McLaren.