Credits: IMAGO / HochZwei

Charles Leclerc has expressed how he is relieved that Oscar Piastri suffered a moment of bad luck during the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday as it aided his and Ferrari’s cause. Since McLaren had a faster car than Ferrari in Shanghai, Leclerc believes that had Piastri’s car not suffered floor damage, the Australian would have gone past him.

After the Chinese GP, Leclerc said (as quoted on X (formerly Twitter)), “The surprise was Lando [Norris], the McLarens. I believe Oscar [Piastri] had floor damage, otherwise it would’ve been difficult to even finish P4. It [the race pace] is a bad surprise.”

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Charles Leclerc’s assessment was spot on indeed. Norris went on to secure an outstanding second podium in the 2024 season, finishing ahead of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in second. On the other hand, Piastri in the other McLaren slipped down to P8 by the time the chequered flag came out.

Piastri got caught in a multi-car incident during the first Safety Car restart. At the hairpin, Lance Stroll’s AMR24 made contact with Daniel Ricciardo’s car. This propelled the #3 driver to hit the rear underside of Piastri’s MCL38, a contact that caused Piastri’s car to suffer floor damage.

Despite carrying a substantial loss of aerodynamic grip from there onwards, the 23-year-old McLaren driver put in a decent shift at the Chinese GP. His eight-placed finish secured four points for the team and further consolidated their third place in the Constructors’ Championship.

McLaren look to exploit the MCL38’s pace at the Miami GP

McLaren’s Chinese GP results shows that the Woking-based team is in fact trading blows with Ferrari as the second-fastest car on the grid behind Red Bull. At the 2024 Miami GP, the team now plan to introduce the first set of upgrades with a view of eclipsing Ferrari once and for all.

According to Motorsport.com, team principal Andrea Stella confirmed the specifics of the upgrades. While the updates will look to unlock further potential from their 2024 challenger, Stella is also expecting to address a huge concern for the team this year.

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He explained, “These upgrades will also include some attempts to improve tire degradation, so we will try and see if we can take a step forward.” While the team are optimistic about these upgrades, Stella did admit that their tire concerns would take more than just one patch to fix.

This is significant news in terms of the Constructors’ Championship as this year, the battle between McLaren and Ferrari will most likely boil down to development. With Miami being the circuit at which McLaren hope to draw first blood, Ferrari could have an answer ready at the very next race in Imola, with their own upgrades.