McLaren spared no effort

The premises of McLaren in Woking in Great Britain will have experienced no respite at the end of 2015. To forget a poor season, marked by the return of Honda as an engine manufacturer, the employees of the British team did not count their days during the off-season to best prepare for the next global campaign.

The change in calendar, with the Australian Grand Prix scheduled for March 20 (instead of April 3 as initially planned), meant McLaren worked non-stop throughout the end of 2015, including the holiday period. .

“In terms of design and engineering capability, it’s a relatively simple rescheduling exercise: there’s less time to do the work, so everyone had to work harder, comments Simon Roberts, McLaren Operations Director.

But the development timetable is restricted: you have to pass all the FIA ​​safety tests and be ready for the first tests, which have also been rescheduled. Eight work teams were included in the program over a five day period for a fantastic effort. In total there were around 110 people affected.

It was a bit strange not having any rest time, but there was a good spirit in the premises. Everyone knew why they were doing this, and it made things happen. Once in 2016, we were on schedule in terms of the calendar. »

McLaren has announced that its MP4-31 will be presented the day before the first day of Barcelona's pre-season testing in Catalonia, on February 21.