McLaren surge checked as Piastri flags Mercedes’ Canada response risk

Oscar Piastri has urged caution despite McLaren’s Miami breakthrough, with Mercedes poised to respond in Canada.

McLaren overhauled Ferrari as Mercedes’ closest challenger at the Miami Grand Prix, not only claiming the 1-2 in the Sprint but also joining Kimi Antonelli on the grand prix podium.

Oscar Piastri cautious despite McLaren gains

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It was McLaren’s best result of the season and came on the back of the team updating its MCL40 with seven new parts, including a completely new floor.

McLaren not only ended Ferrari’s podium run, but it became the first time this season to outscore Mercedes – 48 to 45 points.

However, Mercedes has yet to play its hand, having only introduced two new parts in Miami. Instead, the Brackley squad will bring its big update to the next race in Montreal.

“It’s going to be interesting to see,” Piastri said of the season’s pecking order.

“I think, we kind of need to see where we stack up at a few different tracks.

“I think especially in the Sprint side of this weekend, to have a 1-2 in the Sprint on pure pace, that was a pretty big surprise for us. So, things are working well.

“We expected the upgrades to be a good step forward, and they have been, and hopefully they are again in Canada.

“But obviously Mercedes didn’t bring a lot this weekend, and they also have an upgrade package for Canada, so we’ll have to wait and see how much that’s worth for them.”

For McLaren, though, it’s a case of so far, so good.

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Lando Norris claimed pole position and the victory in the Sprint ahead of Piastri, while the teammates were second and third in the grand prix behind Antonelli.

“The car has been a really good step forward,” Piastri told PlanetF1.com and other media earlier in the weekend. “To be able to have that kind of pace as well has been a welcome return to form.”

A return to form that his teammate Norris says has him feeling confident for the races to come.

But, he accepted, it’s a case of wait and see what Mercedes bring to the track in Montreal.

“Certainly,” he insisted. “I think you’d have to feel silly if you don’t feel confident about the future when we improved so much this weekend,” he said.

“We also know it’s a track that suits us. I’m always that guy that looks at things on the slightly more glass-half-empty side, but this is a track that suits us and in the past has not suited the Mercedes quite so well.

“Yet they were still very fast, and we’re going to go to a track that Mercedes have probably been the best at over the last five, six years. So, we have to wait and see.

“I know we’re bringing upgrades, but in Formula 1 it’s too easy to judge things over one race. You need to see how you are over a number of races and different styles of track: street circuits, hot tracks, cold tracks, tight and twisty, fast circuits. So, there’s no point getting ahead of ourselves.

“We’ve had a very good weekend, I’m very proud of the team, but I also want to make sure they keep pushing and keep trying to improve things, because we still need that.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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