How much trouble is McLaren really in with its 2023 F1 car?

Team principal Andrea Stella’s admission that the squad was not “entirely happy” with the launch specification version of its 2023 challenger had laid down a clear marker in reducing expectations.

Launches are normally happy scene-setters for the campaign ahead, and it is quite rare for teams to deliver such a downbeat assessment as their shiny new model is revealed.

The conclusion was that it was either a deliberate attempt to make very bad news less of a shock…