Former Haas F1 Team team principal Guenther Steiner has predicted that a “battle” is set to emerge between McLaren and Mercedes over which team can introduce the best upgrades and develop its car the fastest.
Mercedes has been the dominant outfit and has won all four races so far this season, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli currently on a run of three consecutive victories.
However, McLaren has improved rapidly across the opening rounds, elevating itself from fourth to second in the pecking order.
Lando Norris converted sprint pole into a sprint victory in Miami, finishing directly ahead of Oscar Piastri to secure a McLaren one-two.
McLaren has developed a strong recent reputation for making significant gains with each upgrade package it introduces, the latest of which arrived at the Miami International Autodrome.
Red Bull and Ferrari also introduced major upgrades in Miami, while Mercedes did not. The Silver Arrows are set to introduce a significant package in Canada, which could further increase their advantage.
Discussing whether McLaren could become the team to beat, Guenther Steiner said on the Red Flags podcast: “I think it will be close over the whole season because McLaren brought a lot of upgrades to Miami, while Mercedes didn’t.
“I think Mercedes is targeting a big upgrade for Canada, so we have to wait for that. I think it’s a bit of a battle over who develops more and develops better.
“But Mercedes still isn’t behind despite not making major changes to the car with upgrades like McLaren has, because now, if you get the upgrades right, they can make a big difference to performance.
“At the moment, because it’s a new regulation cycle, teams are still learning a lot. So I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s easier than it will be in three years’ time to find performance in a car.”
