The performance of McLaren had improved considerably during the latter portion of the 2023 Formula 1 season. However, the integration of Rob Marshall into the squad’s technical leadership during January of 2024 is widely regarded as an important factor in supporting the team’s sustained advancement.
Marshall was recruited from Red Bull, following their significant achievements in 2022 and 2023. He played a role in the in-season improvements to the MCL38 in 2024, before assuming a greater position in the planning of this year’s MCL39, which has now emerged as a frontrunner in both championship competitions.
Dan Fallows, a former technical director at Aston Martin who previously collaborated with Marshall at Red Bull prior to his move to the Silverstone-based team, has expressed admiration for Marshall’s methods.
During an interview on the James Allen on F1 podcast, Fallows emphasized Marshall’s qualities and proposed that his capacity to act as a liaison between the vehicle dynamics and aerodynamics departments, ensuring alignment, was a likely cause of McLaren’s advancement.
He mentioned that McLaren’s strategy for the suspension architecture of its MCL39, which incorporates wishbone leg positions that suggest a dedication to anti-dive characteristics, was probably impacted by Marshall’s oversight.
“We called him Uncle Rob – he’s a lovely chap,” Fallows stated. “I think that is probably part of his impact in many ways. He’s a good person to pull people together. He’s got no artifice or doesn’t play politics.
Marshall pictured alongside Red Bull Racing royalty at the RB5 launch in 2009
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
“Sometimes – particularly with this regulation set, where it’s very important to be able to link up aerodynamics and the vehicle dynamics side of things – it’s very important to get the suspension working with the aero in the right way. He’s somebody who can help bridge the gap between departments.
“I don’t know how well they were working before, but he’s certainly somebody who can do that. But also he’s a great innovator. So if they have particular problems, particularly on the mechanical side, he’s somebody who’s very good at coming up with creative solutions for that.
“I think we’ve seen some interesting innovations from them on the suspension, for example. And I’m not saying it was necessarily him, but it’s certainly got his name all over it.
“I think he’s able to do that and also able just to be that figurehead, somebody to go and talk to. It’s very useful in a team that particularly is under a lot of stress. I think he probably has had an impact.”
Fallows clarified where he considered McLaren had shone, observing that the team’s approach to improvement has been consistent with a comprehensive strategy for modifications. Instead of aiming for immediate advantages, McLaren has chosen a cautious strategy of creating and assessing updates during practice sessions before completely incorporating them onto the vehicle.
This characteristic has been evident over the past two seasons. For instance, McLaren introduced a new front wing at the Canadian GP weekend, yet used it only in practice to gather information before deciding to install it on the vehicle in Austria.
“Since they made a leap in performance in 2023, what I think has been impressive is that some of their updates have not been visually very striking, but they’ve clearly had a plan,” Fallows elaborated.
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Manager, Red Bull Racing, Rob Marshall, Chief Designer, McLaren F1 Team, David Coulthard, Presenter
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“They’ve stuck to it and they’ve decided on a philosophy on how to improve the car and they’ve just gradually nibbled away at it and just got quicker and quicker. I know from personal experience and as people do across the grid, these regulations are very tricky to make reliable performance to put something on the car and to just know that it’ll work. But they seem to be able to do that.
“That’s probably been the most impressive thing. The fact that they’re a customer now is probably less relevant, the Mercedes power unit is very good, but I think most of the power units are, at this stage of the regulations, fairly consistently good as well.
“They make their own gearboxes. They do enough of the car to be able to make a difference. I think that’s just what they’ve done. They’ve just consistently managed to put those upgrades on the car. They reliably work and they’ve just kept their head above everybody else.”
The half-season discussion featuring Fallows and ex-Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley on the James Allen on F1 podcast will be released at 5pm BST today.
