Charles Leclerc delivers theory over shock McLaren pace surge

Charles Leclerc has suggested McLaren’s F1 package was capable of competing at the front in the early races, but its form was compromised by a failure to optimise its systems.

Lando Norris surged to pole position for the sprint race on Friday afternoon, beating championship leader Kimi Antonelli by two-tenths of a second.

Norris had been a non-factor in the fight at the front in the opening rounds, while team-mate Oscar Piastri secured a podium last time out in Japan.

However, its early showing in Miami with an upgraded car marks a significant step forward from what it has demonstrated so far, with Leclerc insisting the package was always capable of challenging Mercedes.

“McLaren did a very big step forward, but I felt like they didn't really optimise their first races of the season,” Leclerc said. 

“So they were always there, but they didn't put everything together.”

Having ended the sprint qualifying session in fourth, Leclerc is confident he will have a faster challenger underneath him in race trim.

“On our side, we've struggled with tyres,” he reflected. “[The] mediums were working very well, the softs, it wasn't a nice feeling. 

“So on that, we've got to look at it. We know that in the race pace, we are stronger.

“In terms of qualifying, there's some work to be done.

“In [grand prix] qualifying, we can try and fine-tune a little bit and find a bit of performance.

“But I hope that in the race, we can come back to the front. We've got the pace to do that. Let's just see if we are able to overtake.”