McLaren's engineers concluded that the MP4-27 had reached the limits of its development cycle, and chose to start the MP4-28 from a largely clean sheet rather than carry over the previous car's architecture. Key design changes included a pullrod front suspension arrangement, revisions to the sidepods to improve rear airflow, and a reconfigured rear suspension geometry incorporating a wishbone system intended to manage tyre wear by adding camber under acceleration and reducing it under braking. The centre of gravity was lowered by reducing the weight of the rollhoop and engine cover. A "vanity plate" was added over the stepped chassis nose that had been characteristic of 2012-specification cars.
Winter testing at Jerez initially generated optimism. The MP4-28 recorded competitive lap times — though it later emerged that Button's car had been running with an incorrectly fitted suspension component creating an unnaturally low ride height. Once corrected, the pace advantage evaporated and the car's true performance deficit became apparent.
The Australian Grand Prix opener exposed the MP4-28's fundamental problems. Button qualified tenth and finished ninth, roughly 80 seconds behind race winner Kimi Raikkonen. Button stated the car could not win a Grand Prix without extensive development work. As the season progressed, McLaren struggled to identify and fix the underlying issues. Despite a series of upgrade packages through Spain and beyond, each intervention delivered disappointing returns or was delayed by legality concerns.
The mid-season nadir came in Canada, where both Button and Perez finished outside the points — ending McLaren's streak of 64 consecutive points-scoring finishes that had stretched back to the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. By the time of the British Grand Prix, Button was being outpaced by Marussia's Max Chilton at moments during the race. The team managed a sixth place in Germany and scattered points finishes through the second half of the season, but the car never approached competitiveness.
Sergio Perez, in his only season with McLaren, recorded a best finish of fifth place at the Indian Grand Prix. His overall performance was judged insufficient by the team and he departed at season's end, replaced by Kevin Magnussen for 2014.
McLaren became the first team to classify both cars in every race of the season, though this statistical achievement came amid a backdrop of the team's worst competitive showing since 1980. It was also McLaren's first season without a podium finish since the same year, and their first without a win since 2006.
The 2013 season marked the end of Vodafone's title sponsorship of McLaren, concluding a partnership that had begun in 2007 with the MP4-22. Vodafone branding was replaced at the Bahrain Grand Prix by Zain and at the United States Grand Prix by Verizon for those individual races. The car also carried branding for Tooned, McLaren's CGI animated series, on early-season liveries.
Following McLaren's retirement from racing the MP4-28, the car was used for demonstration and showcar purposes. In 2018, NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson drove the MP4-28 at Bahrain International Circuit in MCL33 livery. In 2022, 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti demonstrated the car at Laguna Seca in MCL36 livery.
A specific chassis from the 2013 season — number four, in which Hamilton had won in Hungary in a previous season's use — was sold at RM Sotheby's auction in Las Vegas in November 2023 for US$18.8 million, the second-highest price ever achieved for a Formula One car at auction to that point.
The MP4-28 season triggered a major restructuring at McLaren. Paddy Lowe departed for Mercedes, Martin Whitmarsh was replaced as team principal by Ron Dennis, and the team's entire design and operational approach was reassessed. The car remains a cautionary study in how aerodynamic and mechanical unknowns can combine to prevent development from delivering results, and in how a team that had been a regular championship contender in the 1990s and 2000s could find itself struggling to match backmarker pace within a single season.