McLAREN

McLaren reveals its new car as Red Bull gears up

for a fresh challenge

McLaren has given us the first hint of what Formula 1 2021 will look like with the launch of the MCL35M this week (see page 4). As we discussed in the 4 February issue, it’s a team on the up, and the switch to Mercedes power should allow McLaren to see exactly where it stands, even though installing the engine has provided challenges.

But even if McLaren has done a brilliant job over the winter, the main threat to Mercedes this year is likely to come from Red Bull. As team boss Christian Horner reminds us on page 18, the team has been able to fight for wins since the turbo-hybrid era began in 2014. It’s won that contest 17 times, but hasn’t done enough to snatch a title to add to those it scored during its heyday in 2010-13.

This week we look at the things Red Bull has to do to achieve that final step, from making the most of its second car to hoping Honda really pushes the boat out with its final engine before leaving F1.

The recently announced F1 engine freeze from 2022 is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it helps keep costs under control and ensures Red Bull can take on its power needs in-house. On the other, with no balance of performance mechanism allowed, if anyone steals a march (Mercedes?) or misses the mark (Ferrari?), that deficit will be ‘baked in’ until new engine rules arrive in 2025.

Let’s hope that the move helps create the parity we saw in the late 2000s, which created some of the closest fields in F1 history.

Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com

NEXT WEEK 25 FEBRUARY Big questions of 2021 Karun Chandhok looks

at the key F1 issues

this season

COVER IMAGES Klamar/Red Bull; McLaren

PIT & PADDOCK 4 McLaren MCL35M technical focus 6 F1 sprint race move on the cards 8 Mazda pulls out of IMSA 10 Kubica joins WRT for full ELMS 13 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 15 Opinion: Rodi Basso 17 Feedback: your letters

INSIGHT 18 What Red Bull needs to beat Mercedes 28 Jeff Allam on his tin-top career 34 Return of Marshall’s Vauxhall Firenza 38 How Earnhardt’s death changed NASCAR

RACE CENTRE 44 Chaos decides the Daytona 500 51 Top five longest NASCAR Cup waits 53 World of Sport: Asian Le Mans Series; Asian Formula 3

CLUB AUTOSPORT 60 Amputee Turner plots racing comeback 62 Adrian Reynard to race Rover SD1 64 New Audi TT Challenge launched 65 Opinion: Stefan Mackley 66 The Brit with NASCAR in his sights

FINISHING STRAIGHT 70 What’s on this week 72 From the archive: 1960 Le Mans 74 In defence of: tight regulations

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18 FEBRUARY 2021 AUTOSPORT.COM 3