McLaren targeting top-four finish in 2023 after MCL60 launch

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is targeting a top-four finish in the 2023 Formula One season with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri taking up their two seats.

Piastri has replaced fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren, who launched their new MCL60 car at the team's factory in Woking on Monday.

McLaren finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship last year, with Norris gaining 122 of their 159 points. Rivals Alpine ranked fourth with 173 points.

The MCL60, named to mark 60 years since Bruce McLaren founded the team, is an evolution on last year's MCL36.

"I think it's fair to say that over the course of the season we would like to establish ourselves as part of the top four," said Stella, who has replaced Andreas Seidl.

Live in the flesh. #MCL60 pic.twitter.com/53oBEXU7yA

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 13, 2023

"We know realistically with the top-three teams, this may mean potentially being the fourth best car over the course of the season.

"We are realistic in the very short term, there's good developments already in the pipeline that should land trackside very soon in the season and should allow us to take a decent step forward.

"We are not naive, we know that pretty much every team will be saying the same, 'we have good developments' and so on. Like I said, we also have more high level developments going on in the team."

Stella added that some of the car's potential may not be unlocked until the later in the season due to some areas of development not being realized until late in the process.

5th season with @McLarenF1 and i’m ready for it. new car, new challenges, new teammate and i’m looking forward to it all. welcome to the team @OscarPiastri , let’s make this year a good one pic.twitter.com/FZwn8tGQPM

— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) February 13, 2023