McLaren Formula 1 boss Andrea Stella has admitted that the team’s substantial upgrades at the Miami Grand Prix won’t address its complete slow-speed weakness.
McLaren heads into the fifth round of the current season situated in third place in the Constructors’ Championship, having landed two podiums through Lando Norris.
However, Stella has been adamant that McLaren will be dependent on future developments to its MCL38 car to close the existing margin to Ferrari and then Red Bull.
The Woking-based squad has introduced 10 new parts this weekend, including a revised front wing, front suspension, sidepod inlet, engine cover and rear suspension.
But while he teased the updates would be a “decent step” in China last time out, Stella has conceded that McLaren will still have a minor disadvantage at slow speed.
Asked whether McLaren had eradicated its low-speed cornering deficit, Stella told media including Motorsport Week: “Not to the entirety that we would have wished.
“There are some more specific upgrades that we need to deliver for low-speed specific.
Stella believes it has become more troublesome to strike an optimum balance between low-speed and high-speed performance using the current ground effect cars.
“I think that achieving a good compromise between the low-speed and high-speed is difficult with every kind of car, and for different specific reasons,” he added.
“Normally one reason is ride height because even the previous generation of cars were achieving a level of ground effect, but these cars are much more reliant on ground effect.
“So for this car it is much more an element of the distance to the ground and how you manage what’s happening in the floor, around the floor and under the floor.”
Stella reiterated that he anticipates the lap time improvement brought from McLaren’s initial 2024 updates to be “slightly smaller” than the improvements last season.
Meanwhile, the Italian also confirmed that Norris would have the complete package on his car, while Oscar Piastri’s MCL38 would be fitted with half of the upgrades.
“We tested a combination of the upgrades and still there was enough communication between the parts of the car that it was possible to upgrade with 50 per cent,” he explained.
“It is the front wing on one car without necessarily having to modify the floor and the sidepods at the same time.”
Stella conceded that introducing updated components on a Sprint weekend comes with the caveat that McLaren will have one hour of practice to dial in the new parts.
Pressed on whether the British outfit had enough parts for this weekend, he responded: “In terms of parts, yes.
“The main issue with it being a Sprint event is that after one hour that is it in the timetable [for practice].
“That’s why operations of this kind definitely don’t come without some risk, you just have to manage this kind of risk in the most thorough, proactive and forward-thinking way you can.
“That’s what we attempted, but we are ready to face some surprises – hopefully not too dramatic and we hope that we will be able to run throughout the Sprint event.”
