McLaren is bringing a heavily modified car to the Miami Grand Prix. The MCL40 has been significantly developed with upgrades, so that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri can compete at the front. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed that the team will appear with a renewed car. “I expect to see an almost new MCL40 in Miami and Canada,” Stella said.
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The season started difficult for McLaren. In Australia, the team could not start with Oscar Piastri, while in China Lando Norris and again the Australian could not start. Currently, the British team is third in the championship, behind Mercedes and Ferrari, but that could change in Miami. Due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, teams had extra time to develop upgrades. “The intention was always to come with a heavily renewed car around the North American races, especially in terms of aerodynamics,” Andrea Stella said during a media day at the factory in Woking.
‘Make up for performance’
The McLaren team principal expects the team to race with a clearly further developed MCL40 in Miami and Canada and emphasized that the updates have been implemented more targeted. “We have been able to stick to the schedule and the adjusted calendar has helped with that. This probably also applies to other teams, who have therefore been able to work more specifically on upgrades instead of races. That does not mean that the mutual relationships will completely change,” Stella said.
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Nevertheless, the Italian remains realistic about the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari. “We still have performance to make up. At the same time, we are satisfied with the development behind the scenes. Hopefully, that will result in a more competitive car in Miami and Canada. We already took a step in Japan, so we look forward to the upcoming races with confidence,” Stella concluded.
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