McLaren planned to make big improvements to their MCL38 car, driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. They aimed to release these upgrades in May. Now, they’ve confirmed that these upgrades will be ready for the Miami Grand Prix on May 5th.
Stella, the team boss, said, “For Miami, we will have finally the first round of upgrades to our car.” McLaren has started the 2024 season well, doing well against Ferrari and Mercedes. But they know they need more time to fight at the very top.
The upgrade package for Miami is just the start. It will not only make the car faster but also help with how the car handles its tires. This is important because tire wear was a big issue at the recent Shanghai event.
Stella explained, “These upgrades will also include some attempts to improve tire degradation, so we will try and see if we can take a step forward.” He also said they might need more than one round of upgrades to improve tire behavior.
He added, “Certainly the next one will be another interesting one from a tire point of view.” The track conditions in Miami, especially if it’s hot, can make the tires wear out quickly.
In the recent qualifying for the Sunday race, Norris and Piastri did well, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Stella noted that Red Bull and Ferrari still manage their rear tires better than McLaren.
He said, “I think the track has actually been quite consistent in the fact that the main limitation is the overloading of the rear axle.” This means some cars handle the rear tires better than others.
