Piastri equipped with upgrade: 'Start to challenge Red Bull later in 2024'

Oscar Piastri has requested McLaren simulate Red Bull's lack of weakness. McLaren and Ferrari are seemingly about to engage in a season-long duel for second place in the Constructors World Championship, which would indicate who is best prepared to challenge Red Bull sooner. Andrea Stella claimed McLaren will be able to challenge Red Bull in 12 months, and Piastri even suggests later in 2024.

What McLaren must do to close the gap

McLaren seem to be slightly behind Ferrari across the five races completed so far, but the Woking-based team made a huge jump in the middle of the 2023 season. A step of the same magnitude can't be expected again, but Piastri knows what he wants from his team. 

"The Red Bull is a very strong car in general. It doesn't really seem to have a major weakness. It's just strong in all areas. So I think that's what we need to be able to do. We have some areas that are weaker for us than some of our competitors, which we're trying to address. We're getting closer and closer. At points last year, we were very close at a couple of tracks. But clearly we're not the well-rounded package that Red Bull is at the moment," Piastri said.

"We've still got some work to do, obviously, with the upgrade this weekend, they are trying to help with that. But I think with the trajectory we've had, if you look at us 12 months ago to where we are now, I think we're in great shape. And hopefully later this year and into next season, we can start to start the challenge a bit more," Piastri concluded.

McLaren will introduce their first big update during the Miami Grand Prix weekend. CEO Zak Brown previously described this as a risky move.