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McLaren preparing for ‘damage limitation’ in China

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: April 16, 2024

Oscar Piastri’s McLaren has tempered expectations for the first Chinese Grand Prix in four years by expecting the race to be about “damage limitation”.

Those are the words of McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella, who “worries” that Shanghai will be tough despite the team’s solid start to 2024.

Australian Piastri and Brit Lando Norris sit sixth and fifth in the drivers championship respectively  to ensure McLaren is a strong third in the constructors championship, ahead of Mercedes and only behind winners Red Bull and Ferrari.

The standout performance was at Albert Park where Norris stood on the podium and Piastri recorded the equal record finish for an Australian on home soil with fourth.

Last time out in Suzuka Norris qualified third but was out strategised by Ferrari and fell to fifth, while a late mistake forced Piastri to settle for eighth.

A strength of the MCL38 has been performing on high-downforce circuits, but Stella insists the team still has a weakness in the low-speed sections where it struggles to find grip.

With the returning Shanghai International Circuit featuring four hairpins including the uniquely spiral like and ever-tightening opening four corners, Stella fears McLaren will not be able to fight on the front foot.

“I have to say that of the first part of the season, China is the track that worries me the most from a competitiveness point of view,” Stella told AUTOSPORT.

“You have so many low-speed, hairpins and even in corners two and three, you spend so long in long corners.

“I think it’s been a theme I’ve been repeating. 

“So far we have not been able to improve the car enough in these low to medium-speed long corners.

“So from a competitive competitiveness point of view, I would expect a more difficult situation here than in Suzuka, Australia and the first part of the season and China may be a bit of damage limitation for us. 

“Then from Miami onwards, hopefully we start kind of a better stage of this 2024 season and more to come in the second part of the season.”

At the previous Chinese Grand Prix back in 2019, McLaren had a point-less affair with Carlos Sainz the highest finisher down in 14th, while Norris retired after a multi-car collision at turn 4 as neither car made Q3.

The Chinese Grand Prix is this weekend and will be the last broadcast in daylight hours for a long time.

Photo by Zak Mauger / LAT Images

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