McLaren’s Miami Upgrades to Match Fred Vasseur and Co.’s Pace Advantage

Ferrari is often the team in the spotlight when it comes to not delivering on their potential. However, McLaren has been worse off if we consider how big the team actually is. Just like Ferrari, McLaren hasn’t won a championship in over a decade and a half. And unlike Ferrari, McLaren had some downright bad years where scoring points seemed like a good day for the team. The start of 2023 had a similar story, but the way McLaren improved was impressive. And now their latest updates plan to help them match Frederic Vasseur and Co’s pace. 

McLaren ended the 2023 season with a high-finishing P4 in the championship after a dreadful start to the season. The Papaya team was on Ferrari’s pace, if not better, by the end of the season. The latter, however, overtook McLaren during the winter break and got closer to Red Bull. Now, with Mercedes struggling, McLaren is the third-fastest team, a little behind Ferrari. 

McLaren further plans on bringing upgrades to the Miami GP in an attempt to close the gap with Ferrari. Andrea Stella expects the new upgrades to make McLaren as quick as the Ferrari and constantly fight for the podium. McLaren was there in terms of qualifying but fell off during the race. Slow-speed corners and traction zones are still their Achilles heel. Hopefully, the update will focus on this. 

Speaking with the F1 Nation podcast, Stella said, “We have an intense struggle ahead of us in terms of development. We are striving to reach the level of Ferrari in the future. Currently, we are not so far from them; we are only one step behind and we believe we can compete for the podium with them. We are planning a series of significant upgrades for the next race in Miami. The goal is to directly challenge Ferrari for second place.”

But Ferrari will not let McLaren pass them easily. The Scuderia themselves are bringing major upgrades to the Imola GP. But what are they bringing?

Scuderia Ferrari SF24’s rumored Imola GP upgrades

Ferrari has been following its own philosophy since the inception of the current generation of F1 cars with the ground effect. Whereas, somewhere or another, the other teams are believed to have copied some details from the Red Bull’s design. And now Ferrari is the latest team to take inspiration from Red Bull. And it’ll have a major impact on helping Ferrari increase the aggressiveness of their setups. 

Ferrari is set to bring its first set of major updates to the Imola GP. And according to reports, Ferrari has adopted Red Bull-styled sidepod inlets. The updated Scuderia is also being referred to as the Ferrari 2.0, sidepods inlet will not feature an extended lower lip but rather an extended upper lip, very much like the RB20. Also, some changes to the front wing might also be on the way but there aren’t any detailed reports on the same. 

Who do you think will be the runner-up in the championship this year? Ferrari, McLaren, or Mercedes?