It remains to be seen how competitive McLaren will be in F1 2024.
The real test of just how close McLaren really are to Red Bull will be revealed over the next handful of races.
Lando Norris emerged victorious in the thrilling Miami Grand Prix last weekend, securing McLaren’s first win since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. The race took an exciting turn when a Safety Car intervention worked in Norris’s favor.
Karun Chandhok: McLaren’s update introduction shows huge confidence
Karun Chandhok, a former F1 driver now working as a broadcaster, views McLaren’s decision to introduce a comprehensive update package for their car in Miami, particularly on Norris’ car, during a Sprint weekend as a strong display of confidence by the team.
Despite having only one hour to set up before the parc ferme conditions at the beginning of the Sprint Qualifying session on Friday evening, McLaren managed to implement the updates successfully. Both Norris and Piastri, who were using parts of the upgraded package, immediately displayed impressive speed.
Despite the unfortunate breakdown during the Sprint race for McLaren, with Norris becoming an innocent casualty of a collision between other cars at Turn 1, the resilient British driver managed to make a comeback during the main race. Taking advantage of a Safety Car period, Norris strategically seized the lead after his pit stop.
However, in order to demonstrate the deserving nature of the victory, Norris successfully fended off Max Verstappen’s assault during the restart and effortlessly extended his lead over the Red Bull for the remainder of the race.
Chandhok expressed on the Sky F1 podcast that Imola will serve as the initial litmus test to determine if McLaren is genuinely in contention for the championship this year.
“I think they have a car that can compete with Red Bull when the circumstances all line up,” he said.
“At present, our dataset consists of just one entry, rendering it rather limited in terms of utility. Miami stands out as an exceptional circuit, being both a street circuit with a surface that deviates significantly from the norm.”
“We are approaching Imola, a circuit that is more traditional and distinct in terms of its use of conventional asphalt on the track.”
However, the truth is that this circuit offers numerous rapid changes in direction, along with some variations in elevation. Therefore, it requires excellent stability and the ability to handle the curbs and chicanes smoothly. In essence, it is a completely distinct kind of track.
“I believe that they are fully committed to it – the update they introduced in Miami and the decision to fine-tune the car in just one hour during a sprint weekend demonstrates a remarkable level of confidence in the ongoing development program at the factory. Honestly, not many other teams would have the same level of confidence to make such a decision.”
“We’ve observed with Mercedes that despite their continuous updates, there seems to be a disconnect between what they witness on the track and what they observe in the wind tunnel.”
It is truly brilliant for McLaren to have made that decision. We expect that Oscar will also receive the update, most likely in Imola. If we recall correctly, he was just a few tenths short there, wasn’t he?
However, despite lacking that final bit of performance, he managed to maintain his position in second place during the initial phase. He held a strong second position, and it appeared that neither Leclerc nor Sainz had the ability to mount a significant challenge against him.
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Naturally, the major uncertainty surrounding Miami is the true extent of Red Bull’s performance decline. Despite Verstappen’s unusual loss, team principal Christian Horner suggested that the team suspects floor damage on his RB20 following his off-track incident at the chicane where he collided with a bollard.
Verstappen’s afternoon took a turn for the worse due to the Safety Car, but he managed to secure a comfortable second place. Chandhok mentioned that only Red Bull has the accurate information on the extent of damage to Verstappen’s RB20.
He mentioned that they are the exclusive possessors of the data and haven’t precisely made the loss of downforce figures public.
Max was indeed leading and he displayed impressive speed, however, it is important to note that his lead was not as significant as it has been in previous occasions.
Lando was just a few tenths behind him during qualifying, and the Ferraris were also close in terms of lap times. In the sprint qualifying, Lando and Oscar were the fastest in the first and second sessions, but had a disappointing performance on the soft tires in the third session. However, it’s important to note that they showed great speed throughout the entire weekend.
I believe there is some truth in what Christian was saying, but the exact degree of truth is uncertain – it could range from a second to a hundredth.
“When we reach the next race, the true test will present itself. It is not fair to judge the entire season based on a single track and one outcome.”
“We have an exciting lineup ahead with Imola, Monaco, Canada, and Barcelona. These circuits are all very distinct, but if McLaren can remain competitive at each of them, we can confidently say that they pose a genuine threat to Red Bull. Being a title contender means being fast in every race.”
“You need to be quick at more than just one specific track.”
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