Idman.biz
After the first two stages of the Formula 1 World Championship, the McLaren team is already 80 points behind the leader Mercedes. Team driver Oscar Piastri assessed the situation after the Chinese Grand Prix as "no man's land", admitting that the current champions are behind Mercedes and Ferrari.
Idman.Biz, referring to RacingNews365, reports that although both McLaren drivers were unable to start in Shanghai due to electrical problems in the power unit, Piastri's views reflect the team's overall backwardness. In the first race of the season in Australia, the team was 51 seconds behind the dominant Mercedes duo.
Currently, McLaren is third in the Constructors' Cup with 18 points. Team boss Andrea Stella, whose team is 80 points behind leader Mercedes and 49 points behind Ferrari, has confirmed that there is a difference of 0.5 - 1 seconds in each lap with the rivals in the front ranks.
Piastri answered the question about whether they could reduce the difference at the Japanese Grand Prix as follows:
"I hope we can get a little closer. But I would be surprised if we eliminated the entire deficit. I think China fully showed where we are. We are kind of stuck in no man's land as the third fastest team. I hope we close the gap."
Despite the difficulties, the Australian pilot also noted that there has been progress in some areas of the MCL40 model. He emphasized that they have done a better job, especially in optimizing the power unit.
