Oscar Piastri, the Australian driver for McLaren, acknowledges that the team must make further improvements in order to compete for consistent top-three finishes and potentially win races in the upcoming Formula 1 season.
McLaren aims to build on the progress made last year, where they went from struggling to score points to becoming a regular presence at the front of the grid. However, their preparations for the new season were hampered by technical issues during pre-season testing, resulting in fewer laps completed compared to other teams, with only Williams having a worse record.
Despite these setbacks, Piastri remains optimistic that the new McLaren car, the MCL38, represents a step forward from its predecessor and puts the team in a good position for the start of the season. Piastri expressed satisfaction with the progress made during the testing, particularly on Friday afternoon, where they were able to complete a significant number of laps.
While Piastri believes that McLaren is in a competitive position, he acknowledges that Red Bull and Ferrari currently have an advantage. He considers Red Bull to be ahead of the pack, while Ferrari also appears strong, albeit to a lesser extent. Piastri recognizes that McLaren still has work to do in order to close the gap and challenge for podium finishes and race victories consistently.
In conclusion, Piastri is cautiously optimistic about McLaren’s prospects for the upcoming Formula 1 season. He acknowledges the progress made by the team but emphasizes the need for further improvements in order to compete with the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Lando Norris agreed with Piastri’s assessment of Ferrari, stating in an interview with Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz that McLaren cannot match the lap times of the Italian team in Bahrain. When asked if McLaren could aim for a podium finish in the first race of the season, Norris firmly responded, “No.” However, he did acknowledge that Bahrain has historically been a challenging circuit for McLaren and predicted that Red Bull will maintain a significant advantage. Norris believes that McLaren is making progress with their 2024 car but suggested that they still struggle in slow-speed corners. He stated, “We have areas where we perform well and areas where we struggle. I don’t think we have significantly improved in our weak areas. We still have a lot of work to do, but we have made progress in other areas, and as a team, we are moving in the right direction.”