Major McLaren upgrade reported as Mercedes put on red alert

Sky F1 commentator David Croft has reported that McLaren has a "big, big upgrade" planned for the Miami Grand Prix, and believes Mercedes will be frustrated by the April break.

The cancellation of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia has resulted in no Grands Prix this month, offering all 11 teams a significant opportunity to develop major upgrade packages.

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur is confident the Miami Grand Prix will look like a "different championship" compared to the opening rounds, which have been dominated by Mercedes.

Despite Mercedes’ early dominance, Oscar Piastri had a real chance of victory in the Japanese Grand Prix and became the first driver this season to finish ahead of either Kimi Antonelli or George Russell.

The McLaren driver finished second behind Antonelli, who capitalised on a safety car to pit and take the race lead. Without the safety car, Piastri would have been leading the Grand Prix.

Croft believes Piastri may have secured a shock victory at Suzuka had the safety car for Oliver Bearman’s 50G crash not occurred, and also feels the Australian and McLaren are on the rise.

Discussing Mercedes likely feeling frustrated that its rivals now have a month to work on their cars, Croft said on the Sky F1 podcast: "Yeah, I agree. And I think McLaren have a big, big upgrade coming in Miami that they're already very pleased with in terms of the numbers it's given them from the simulator.

"I think Oscar Piastri might have won [in Japan], actually, without the safety car. And I know Kimi's pace before the safety car was pretty lightning, but he still had to fight his way through the field a little bit and make some overtakes.

"Oscar had track position, and I think, had he kept that track position, he would have gone on to win it.

"He looked so comfortable, and that was one of the big takeaways. From a pleasing perspective for me, Oscar A) got to race and B) looked pretty good when he was racing."