The McLaren Formula 1 team is eagerly awaiting its first win since 2021 – After four second places in a row, soon to pass Ferrari in the team standings?
The McLaren Formula 1 team continued its run in Austin. With a points haul totaling 23, they overtook Aston Martin for fourth place in the constructors’ standings and are now 80 points behind Ferrari. At the start of the race, it even looked as if Lando Norris had a realistic chance of winning, but tire wear on the McLaren was too high.
“In a way, we almost have mixed feelings,” said team boss Andrea Stella after the race. “We’re celebrating a podium finish here, but at the same time, after the first stint, it looked like we might have enough pace to take the win.”
“I want to reiterate that we are very happy with the podium, but it’s certainly something that everyone thought after the first second after the race, ‘Too bad we didn’t win.’ I think everyone realizes how important a string of podiums is this season, considering where we started from.”
“But I also like the determination with which we are now looking for the next step. We realize that we can’t do miracles with the development of the car this season to improve lap times or optimize tire degradation in a way that fundamentally changes things, but we also didn’t expect to be in the lead for a stint and a half at this track. “
McLaren: Need miracles to overtake Ferrari
“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing since the summer break,” added McLaren CEO Zak Brown. “Just keep pushing. The car is good. And all we can do is keep pushing and give the drivers the best we can, make good pit stops and see where we are at the end of the year.”
The past three race weekends have seen them make up 46 points on Ferrari in the championship, but the remaining four circuits in Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi are not exactly considered McLaren tracks. The MCL60 struggles in the slow corners, but can score points in the really fast ones. But there aren’t many of those left on the racing calendar.
“It would take a bit of a miracle to do that, but statistically it’s possible,” Brown says when asked if Ferrari can still be caught. “You never know. I think all we can do is try to get as many points as we can every weekend and see what happens at the end of the year. “
Piastri hopes: better chances in Mexico
The Austin race weekend saw Lando Norris score a fourth consecutive second place finish, but they still leave with one point less than Ferrari as Oscar Piastri struggled over all three days. The Australian retired early in the race after contact with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and was unable to take any points from the weekend as a whole.
But Piastri is confident he can bounce back in Mexico because, as a rookie with the normal weekend format, he will again get more driving time before the crucial sessions: “It will be a whole new track for me. So that will be an experience.”
“But it goes back to a normal weekend. So I’ll have a lot more time to practice and hopefully do some consecutive laps in practice. Hopefully it’s a little more structured for me and I can go into qualifying and the race with a little bit better speed. “
“I’ve driven [the track] in the simulator before. But it will be completely new, and Brazil afterwards will be a sprint, of course. But yeah, I don’t know how the performance of our car will be either. I think it was a pleasant surprise in some ways how good we did [in Austin]. I would say that I didn’t get the most out of the car myself. But the pace in the car is definitely pretty good. Hopefully we can continue that in the next two races.”
Asked about the exact ambitions in Mexico, he says, “I think the altitude and things like that will be another challenge. And of course there’s a lot less downforce there. So I don’t know if that will help us that much. And I also don’t know if the track is bumpy or slippery. “
“It would take a bit of a miracle to do that, but statistically it’s possible,” Brown said when asked if Ferrari could still be caught. “You never know. I think all we can do is try to get as many points as we can every weekend and see what happens at the end of the year. “
Piastri hopes: better chances in Mexico
The Austin race weekend saw Lando Norris score a fourth consecutive second place finish, but they still leave with one point less than Ferrari as Oscar Piastri struggled over all three days. The Australian retired early in the race after contact with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and was unable to take any points from the weekend as a whole.
But Piastri is confident he can bounce back in Mexico because, as a rookie with the normal weekend format, he will again get more driving time before the crucial sessions: “It will be a whole new track for me. So that will be an experience.”
“But it goes back to a normal weekend. So I’ll have a lot more time to practice and hopefully do some consecutive laps in practice. Hopefully it’s a little more structured for me and I can go into qualifying and the race with a little bit better speed. “
“I’ve driven [the track] in the simulator before. But it will be completely new, and Brazil afterwards will be a sprint, of course. But yeah, I don’t know how the performance of our car will be either. I think it was a pleasant surprise in some ways how good we did [in Austin]. I would say that I didn’t get the most out of the car myself. But the pace in the car is definitely pretty good. Hopefully we can continue that in the next two races.”
Asked about the exact ambitions in Mexico, he says, “I think the altitude and things like that will be another challenge. And of course there’s a lot less downforce there. So I don’t know if that will help us that much. And I also don’t know if the track is bumpy or smooth. “
