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Ralf Schumacher questioned what McLaren were doing for the early part of their season after turning things around over the last few years.
After a poor start to the season in the first two races, McLaren managed to turn things around starting with the Japanese Grand Prix.
A podium finish in Suzuka, followed by a strong weekend at the Miami Grand Prix, where Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri earned two podium finishes in the sprint and the race.
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Data from @FDataAnalysis
With the massive jump made over the hiatus, Mercedes wanted to see McLaren’s data to understand how they got to the pace that they did during the break.
This performance over the weekend has renewed McLaren’s title hopes for this season. But Ralf Schumacher questioned why McLaren’s start to the season was so poor.
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Ralf Schumacher unsure of McLaren’s ‘resurrection’ continuing into future races after Miami Grand Prix
Speaking on Backstage Boxengasse, Ralf Schumacher talked about McLaren’s performance at the Miami Grand Prix.
He believes McLaren could have won had he been ahead of Kimi Antonelli for longer. But from a larger perspective, Schumacher questioned how they were able to overcome their catastrophic start to the season.
Furthermore, he isn’t completely sold on McLaren being able to continue this strong momentum going forward, suggesting that the weekend’s performance also came down to Mercedes’ struggles.
“If he had been in front, Kimi Antonelli wouldn’t have been able to overtake him either. I think they were on a similar level. Stella was unhappy as usual. They could have done more.
“I think McLaren have had a bit of a resurrection, you have to say, after the catastrophic start to the season. Norris, even here on a track that is difficult and slippery, he sidelined Piastri all weekend.
“McLaren fit well in there. I’m not entirely sure that McLaren will be as strong in the next race. The topic of downforce, resistance of the car fit in quite well at Miami because the track is very slippery and because you really need every bit of grip. Mercedes stumbled a bit this weekend…”
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McLaren looking to sustain their progress as they mount title push
As things stand, McLaren sit third constructors’ championship standings with 94 points, 26 points behind Ferrari, and 86 points behind leaders Mercedes.
Of course, with just four races having passed, there is still plenty of time for them to close the gap and catch up to Mercedes.
And with McLaren closing the pace gap with Mercedes, they have made some steady progress in that effort.
Now, it is their responsibility to ensure that they can continue pushing and gaining positive results over Mercedes in the races to come.
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