The alarming stat behind McLaren’s miserable start to F1 2023

The British team currently occupy bottom spot in the 2023 F1 constructors’ championship after two torrid races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. 

Rookie Oscar Piastri was forced to retire from his F1 debut with mechanical trouble, while teammate Lando Norris hobbled home two laps down in 17th after making six trips to the pits due to a pneumatics issue. 

Things didn’t get much better in Jeddah, despite Piastri making Q3 for the first time and starting inside the top 10. 

Contact with the Alpine of Pierre Gasly at the start caused debris which Norris managed to collect, forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop for repairs. 

Piastri eventually finished 15th, two places ahead of Norris. 

Barring AlphaTauri, McLaren are the only team yet to score a point in 2023. 

The Woking-based outfit will have to go some way to continue to match their dismal 2017 campaign given it took the team eight races to get off the mark that season. 

McLaren will be hoping for a turnaround to their fortunes at next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. 

But a big improvement to McLaren’s performance is unlikely to come before upgrades are introduced to their troubled MCL60 car.