During the break, teams were working overtime to get their cars into shape for the United States Grand Prix. As we get closer to the end of the 2024 season, many teams are shifting their focus to their 2025 cars. With their focus shifting, many teams have brought their last round of upgrades to the United States Grand Prix. McLaren is one of those teams.
Upgrades are introduced throughout the season depending on what the teams are trying to achieve. The United States Grand Prix is the first of the last six races. The upgrades that have been brought are going to be fully optimized by the teams. But have these upgrades messed the car up?
McLaren disappoints during the Sprint Qualifying
The United States Grand Prix is a sprint weekend with the sprint & sprint qualifying replacing practice sessions 2 & 3. On Friday’s practice session, the McLarens showed promise and pace. While they did not top the session, they both placed top 5. Lando Norris landed in 4th with Oscar Piastri in 5th.
A solid lap by Lando will see him start tomorrow’s sprint from the second row. 👊
It was a disappointing session for Oscar, who will line up on P16 for tomorrow’s Sprint after being eliminated in SQ1.
#UnitedStatesGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/kSLGS9t512
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 18, 2024
Their upgrades seemed to be working during the only practice session. However, during sprint qualifying, Piastri got out during the first round. He will start from the 16th position. Norris fared a lot better placing 4th. While 4th isn’t horrible, it’s a fall from pole. Which is what Norris was steadily getting before the new upgrades.
What upgrades have McLaren brought to the United States Grand Prix?
McLaren was one of the teams that brought upgrades to the United States Grand Prix this weekend. They brought a whopping 6 upgrades. At the front of the MCL38, McLaren has upgraded their front wing. Along with the front wing, the front suspension has also been upgraded. This is to maximize the aerodynamic load by improving the air conditioning flow downstream.
Sprint Qualifying has been completed!
Verstappen is back on top with plenty of teams in the mix!
Here is the complete classification:#F1 #AustinGP #UnitedStatesGP pic.twitter.com/KEo88R7zg8
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) October 18, 2024
Along with reworking and upgrading the front, they did the same to the rear. Airflow efficiency and cooling is a major focus at Circuit of the Americas for McLaren. After the disappointing sprint qualifying, Lando Norris weighed in with his opinion to the Media.
He said “I’ve been struggling the whole day, honestly, with the balance and the set-up” (Sports Illustrated). He ended by saying that ultimately he was happy with the results because it could have been worse.
Do you think McLaren made a mistake by bringing so many upgrades?
