Lando Norris cautioned in Miami that there is more to come from the McLaren upgrades. Despite Norris taking his maiden win, McLaren believe Imola could bring more performance.
He admitted, “I think it’s not the track which is going to show all of it.” implying that there is still performance to be shown. He remained positive that the team would see more of the ‘potential’ in Imola.
Lando warned against making premature judgments on the upgrades. Clarifying, “People are too quick to judge everything from one weekend or one day or whatever.” Making it clear, the full impact will be seen over the next two or three weekends.
Back at Miami, Norris had the full McLaren upgrades, while Piastri only had half. Imola will see both drivers receive the full package.
Oscar Piastri, despite only having half of the upgrades, performed very well in the first stint of the race. He was on track for a podium before his collision with Carlos Sainz.
The team also had struggles in the Sprint and Qualifying part of the weekend, which distorted the expectations for the team come race day. However, it was clear on Sunday the pace they had and the success of the upgrades.
Imola sees many teams bringing upgrades.
Mercedes is bringing the second half of their Miami package. Aston Martin is bringing upgrades. Ferrari, most significantly, are bringing a huge upgrade package rumored to give them 2-4 tenths of performance.
The gap at the front of the field is getting closer, and development has proven to be vital.
Last year, the gap to Red Bull was large enough that Red Bull could make mistakes and still win. This year has proven that if Red Bull and Max Verstappen mess up, there are teams waiting to capitalise.
McLaren has made huge strides from last season. Going from barely being a mid field team at the beginning of 2023 to solidified in the top three in 2024. With a victory behind them, they will strive to maintain this momentum.
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