MIAMI, Florida — Last year McLaren arrived for the 2024 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix as underdogs on the grid. But an upgrade package the team brought to the Miami International Autodrome paid immediate dividends, as Lando Norris captured his first Grand Prix victory. The win touched off a joyous celebration in the paddock that evening, complete with none other than Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur joining in on the celebration by showering McLaren CEO Zak Brown, as well as Norris, with champagne.
Sunday night in the paddock was more of the same, as the entire McLaren team gathered again for a photograph in front of their hospitality space to celebrate a dominant win from Oscar Piastri and a P2 result from Norris. However, the celebration was more muted. The champagne was there of course — the smell emanating from my shoes can prove that point — but there was more of a quiet confidence to the scene than anything else.
Which perhaps tells the story of F1 at the moment.
McLaren remains the dominant force on the grid right now, and while the gaps may vary from circuit to circuit, and nothing is ever a given in this sport, they are the hunted. No longer are they the scrappy underdogs looking for their first win, but rather they are the team everyone is chasing, and hoping to emulate.
“Compared to two years ago, it’s an incredibly different place to be,” said Piastri at the FIA Press Conference.
“The determination and the hard work has always been there. Even two years ago, we knew that things were in the pipeline to help us come back to the front. So while we got lapped twice that day in Miami two years ago, there was optimism and determination, still.
“Clearly, last year with Lando’s win, that was nice for the whole team in terms of finally having a car capable of winning a race again, on merit. There was obviously the 1-2 in Monza a few years ago, but Miami last season was the turning point in winning races because we could be the quickest on track. That’s an incredible place to be,” added Piastri.
“Now, it’s a continuation of that. The determination and hard work are still identical, just the joy and the celebrations are a bit more frequent, which is nice. But we know we have a lot of competition. Being first now means we have less tunnel time, less development time,” said Piastri. “That’s something we’ve enjoyed over our competitors for the last few years. So there are going to be challenges with being at the front, but it’s an incredible place to be.”
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella praised the entire team, and in particular the engineers, in his post-race comments to the media, including SB Nation.
“I think we have seen before, we have talked about this a few times now, that whenever the conditions are challenging for the tires in terms of overheating in particular, then the car seems to be doing a good job on keeping the tires in a very good window and the car is gentle on the tires,” began Stella.
“Very good engineering behind this.
“We have looked holistically at all the characteristics that you can have in a car that influence the behavior of the tires, and I just want to take the opportunity to praise the work that has been done by the engineers at McLaren.”
Stella also took a moment to reflect on the growth from one year to the next, bracketed by a pair of wins in Miami.
“Today was an exceptional result for McLaren at the end of a remarkable weekend. First and second yesterday in the Sprint, followed by first and second again today in the Miami Grand Prix, which is a first for any team in a Sprint weekend. It’s a big haul of points, and we’re mindful that tomorrow is the anniversary of our first victory of this era, which was a fundamental milestone in the direction and development of our team,” added Stella.
There is a new confidence around this team, and it is hard not to remember where they were not so long ago. When I interviewed Norris ahead of the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he conceded they were simply fighting for points.
Now wins, and championships, are the expectations, expectations that are underlined by the difference in two celebrations in Miami, one year apart. The first celebration was marked by joy and relief, the other centered on the feeling of quiet confidence and the belief that this is the new normal at McLaren.
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