McLaren F1 Faces Tough Weekend in China Challenge

In China, McLaren F1 prepares for a difficult race, anticipating disadvantages with their MCL38s on a tricky track.

McLaren F1 is bracing for a challenging weekend in China, with a track layout that on paper doesn’t suit their MCL38s. Oscar Piastri explains why the team anticipates being at a disadvantage, possibly as the fifth force on the grid.

“We haven’t been very good in slow corners for a while, and there are a lot of slow corners here,” the Australian notes. “Our strengths lie in the fast corners, but there aren’t many here. We’ll see; we think we’ll struggle, and it’s very close with Mercedes and Aston, and not so far from Ferrari, but we might be on the back foot this weekend.”

Nevertheless, he is convinced that McLaren will score points: “Yes, definitely, if we’re further back than that, something will have gone wrong. But we won’t be as competitive as we were in the last two weekends.”

Piastri is experiencing the Shanghai circuit for the first time and is eager to race on a track where he doesn’t think his lack of experience will be a problem: “I did a track walk, which was cool; there are some unique corners you don’t see elsewhere. We’ll see what it’s like having an hour to get used to it before Sprint Qualifying.”

“Yes and no, the guys who have been around a long time will be used to it, regardless of the car. But the fact that no one has been here is better than if we had raced here two years ago, and not me. But there’s only an hour to acclimate and I’m not the only one in that situation.”