"Music to my ears!" - McLaren F1 fans react as team fires up their 2023 engine

McLaren are set to reveal their 2023 challenger on the 13th of February and have already got fans excited about the fire-up. The team has started building up anticipation with the majority of the team gathered at the McLaren Technology Center in Woking, giving fans an insight into the birth of the new car.

F1 Build, Car Assembly, and Hydraulics Director Jonathan Brookes spoke about the significance of the fire-up. According to the official McLaren website, he said:

"The car comes alive at that point. Fire up is a culmination of many people's work over months, possibly even years, depending on where they work within the team. It is a big moment for the whole factory because so many people have put so much work into it. As I said, it is like the birth of the car, and everyone wants to be there to hear it fire up for the first time."

"Getting to fire up is a long process of late nights and a lot of hours worked across the whole team. Lots of things have to be checked and signed off in isolation before they get fitted onto the car. Fire up is confirmation that everything works correctly and as it should, once it all comes together.”

Considering that he confirmed that all has gone to plan so far with regards to McLaren's 2023 challenger, Brookes has plenty of good news for the Papaya fans. He said:

"A good fire up is when everything goes to plan: everything is in the right place, and we're in a good spot. This car build has gone very smoothly. Last year was more difficult for every team in the pit lane due to the new regulations, and new complexities to the cars, whereas some of this year's car is more of a known entity. At the moment, everything has gone to plan, and we've been able to work through any small issues that we've had without any major problems."

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McLaren F1 fans react as team fires up their 2023 engine

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McLaren boss "looking forward" to new 2023 driver pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

After the dust has settled from all the drama that went down with Oscar Piastri's plans to make his F1 debut, McLaren CEO Zak Brown is certainly looking forward to the new driver line-up for the upcoming season. Daniel Ricciardo parted ways with the Woking-based team at the end of last year, making space for the young Formula 2 champion, who has quite some expectations to meet in his rookie season.

As reported by F1.com, Brown shared his expectations from the Aussie in 2023. He said:

“He is very mature for his age. I was very impressed with how he handled the summer drama, if you like. He's obviously an immense talent. He's not been racing for a year, so we need to get any of that race rustiness off him, which I'm sure we will do in short order. Very focused individual, very technical, and looking forward to seeing him and Lando on the grid next year.”

McLaren finished the 2022 F1 season fifth in the constructors' standings.