McLaren reveals where they lose compared to the field-leading Mercedes

McLaren continued their consistent early‑season form on Saturday in Shanghai, delivering a Sprint and Qualifying performance that firmly established them as the third‑strongest team behind Mercedes and Ferrari.

While they were able to challenge the red cars in phases, the overall picture remained one of steady execution rather than breakthrough pace.

The Sprint began positively for the team. Both Norris and Piastri launched well and immediately joined the battle with the Ferraris. Norris later capitalised on Lewis Hamilton’s tyre graining to move ahead, though Hamilton reclaimed the position after the late Safety Car restart.

Piastri briefly overtook Kimi Antonelli at the restart but was instructed to hand the place back, having made the move just before the Safety Car line. The pair ultimately finished fourth and sixth, a result that reflected both the car’s strengths and the tight margins in the upper midfield.

Norris described the day as broadly aligned with expectations. “A reasonable day where we ended up pretty much where we expected to be,” he said, adding that “P4 was as good as we could achieve in the Sprint, and we did beat one Mercedes, which was better than expected.”

He also highlighted the team’s ongoing work on race‑trim weaknesses: “We know we have some weak areas in race trim that we're trying to tackle… we need to keep working hard to improve and try to catch up to the teams ahead.”

Qualifying later in the afternoon reinforced McLaren’s position. For a brief moment, the team appeared capable of mixing with Ferrari, but once all cars switched to fresh tyres in Q3, the hierarchy became clear.

McLaren locked out the third row, with Piastri securing fifth and Norris sixth. Sector Three remained a particular challenge, costing both drivers time on the long straight and through the technical final corners. Norris acknowledged this limitation, saying, “Our Sector Three is tricky, and we’re losing a fair amount of lap time there, partly on the straight, but also in the corners.”

Looking ahead to Sunday, he added, “We're not miles away from the Ferraris’ pace, but they have some advantages which are difficult to beat.”

Piastri echoed the sentiment of a solid but improvable day. “P5 in Qualifying and P6 in the Sprint… Overall, a decent day but we've still got work to do,” he said. He noted that his final qualifying lap “wasn't the tidiest, so there was a little more in it,” but emphasised that the team had maximised performance elsewhere.

With tyre wear proving decisive in the Sprint, he stressed the importance of Sunday’s management challenge: “We'll do what we can to get a good start tomorrow and keep on top of the tyres, as they were a key factor in the Sprint this morning.”

Team Principal Andrea Stella placed the day within the broader competitive context. He reiterated that Mercedes currently hold a clear pace advantage, with Ferrari next in line, while McLaren continue to close the gap over a single lap.

“Starting with both cars on the third row shows that we’re working hard as a team and moving in the right direction weekend by weekend,” he said, though he acknowledged that further gains will depend on upcoming development steps.