As the Miami Grand Prix is a sprint race weekend, teams have only a single hour of practice before the first qualifying session.
However McLaren have not allowed the limited set-up time to deter them from bringing what appears to be the biggest upgrade any team has introduced since the season began.
“Obviously on a sprint weekend it makes it a little bit more difficult to get the most out of them, because you’ve only got one practice session, but it should hopefully be a decent step forward,” said Oscar Piastri.
McLaren could scarcely afford to wait, for having two sprint race weekends back-to-back means this stretch of the calendar features a six-week spell in which teams do not have the luxury of three practice sessions during a race weekend. And unlike last year, McLaren and their rivals are not entirely locked in to their set-ups from Friday onwards.
The swathe of new mechanical and aerodynamic parts for the MCL38 will immediately prompt questions whether the team can pull off another of the leaps forward in performance seen with its two major upgrades last year in Austria and Singapore.
“Trying to stay on the trajectory from last year is what we’re aiming to do,” said Piastri. “But obviously as you get closer and closer to the limit of these cars and these regs, it becomes harder and harder to do. So we’ll see.
“But the upgrades we pulled off last year always worked well so hopefully we can have a similar kind of effect this year.”
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The update includes changes to the front and rear suspension, which is critical to maintaining the airflow underneath the floor, which is where current F1 cars generate so much of their downforce. McLaren say the MCL38’s floor has been “completely revised” as a result.
The upper aerodynamics package has also been extremely reworked, starting from the front wing, where McLaren said they have achieved a “significant improvement of flow control.” Besides the suspension, the ducts and winglets around the front and rear wheels have also been changed to work in conjunction with the revised bodywork.
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The sidepod inlets, engine cover bodywork and cooling louvre options have also been reworked. Here the goal has been to improve the airflow to the rear of the car and its revised beam wing which has been tailored to the requirements of the Miami track.
This circuit has not been kind to McLaren in the past – indeed, they are yet to score a point in Miami. Piastri said the team will therefore be cautious in its assessment of its extensive new package.
“Last year we had some upgrades in Baku, which was the race before Miami, and then we had a shocker here last year. So we’ll have to wait and see if this track suits us, because last year we chopped and changed quite a bit. But hopefully it does what it’s supposed to do and that would be good.”
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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella recently said he believes the team can catch pace-setters Red Bull within a year if they continue at their current rate. They were the second-fastest team at the last round in China, somewhat against expectations, and if their latest package proves a strong step forwards McLaren may be about to make the fight at the front end more interesting.
“The Red Bull is a very strong car in general,” Piastri observed. “It doesn’t really seem to have a major weakness, it’s just strong in all areas.
“So that’s what we need to be able to do. I think we have some certain areas that are weaker for us than some of our competitors, which we’re trying to address. I think we’re getting closer and closer.
“At points last year we were very close at a couple of tracks. But clearly we’re not the well-rounded package that Red Bull is at the moment so I think we’ve still got some work to do.
“The upgrades this weekend are trying to help us with that. But with the trajectory we’ve had, if you look at us 12 months ago to where we are now, I think we’re in great shape and hopefully later this year and into next season we can start to challenge a bit more.”
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