McLaren continues to struggle for podium
McLaren appears to be in a strong position to contend for the podium in the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Fighting for a few points at the start of the season, the British team turned the situation around with updates to the British GP.
Lando Norris took two podiums in a row, while Oscar Piastri finished second in the Belgian sprint race.
Yet the gap between them and the dominant Red Bulls is still huge.
It can be seen that McLaren is far behind the Austrian team, especially in terms of race pace.
“We are much closer in qualifying, but Max was again 0.8 seconds faster in Spa,” Piastri said in Zandvoort. said.
“It also depends a bit on the track. Everyone has to improve against Red Bull on Sunday. "The ability to push the tires while protecting them and the car's speed on the straights make them versatile and put them in a good position."
“We have strengths where we can fight and sometimes even outperform them, but there are other areas where we are weaker,” Piastri said, referring to McLaren's strengths. said.
“We need to keep working on these. The updates in Austria and Silverstone were a good first step in that regard.”
Piastri said he wasn't sure if Red Bull could be passed under current regulations.
“I would like to think it is, but I believe it will be very difficult.” said.
“They started this rule period very strong and they are even stronger this year.”
"Still, looking at Aston [Martin] and us, it looks like we can make a good move in a short time as long as you keep moving in the right direction."
“With the current aero and wind tunnel rule, the grid will get very close together.”
A win for McLaren and Piastri seems a long way off for now, but if an opportunity arises, they aim to seize it.
“We have to be there when they make a mistake,” Piastri said. said.
"They haven't done that so far, but when they make a mistake, we want to make sure we're the first team to evaluate it."
“We want to be the first team behind Red Bull when an opportunity comes up.”
"I don't think Aston is like that right now, but they're not far behind."
“With these new cars, it's heavily dependent on the track. On a weekend like Silverstone we can Mercedes another weekend like Budapest.”
“Ferrari was very good at Spa. In short, it is difficult to say anything because there is no clear second.”