How McLaren and Aston Martin enjoyed opposing fortunes in F1 2023

It was definitely a season of two halves for two great motorsport names, with slow-starters McLaren eventually defeating early surprise package Aston Martin. Here's how the British outfits compared

McLaren and Aston Martin ended up battling for fourth place in the 2023 Formula 1 constructors’ championship. That was a position it looked like McLaren could never reach early on, and one not good enough for Aston at the same time. But their fortunes waxed and waned in wildly contrasting campaigns. This then, is the timeline to explain it all.

McLaren’s muted launch

McLaren unveils the MCL60 at its sprawling Woking headquarters on 13 February, with much to look forward to based on discussions over the team’s upcoming celebrations of the 60th anniversary of its founding – hence the car name. But new team principal Andrea Stella and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown are pointedly downcast in their predictions for the year ahead.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.