McLaren’s 'new car' upgrade raises hopes of Mercedes fight at Miami GP

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Former IndyCar driver and F1 TV presenter James Hinchcliffe believes that the Miami Grand Prix could be the best chance that McLaren has had to beat Mercedes.

The Miami Grand Prix comes after an unexpected five-week break due to the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain Grands Prix, and so the teams have had a chance to take a bit of a reset ahead of the race at the Hard Rock Stadium.

In addition to the break, the FIA and Formula 1 have introduced tweaks to the regulations after complaints and safety concerns, which could also lead to a reshuffle in the pecking order.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has said that the Woking outfit will be bringing an almost completely new car to the Miami Grand Prix, a race that the outfit has won for the past two years.

"It's almost like a restart to the season," Hinchcliffe said during the F1 Nation Podcast. "With this amount of time off, the information, all the data that the teams have from the first three rounds, we know that everybody is bringing a lot of upgrades.

"I think they have as good a shot as anyone in the top three teams, we have to remember that Mercedes has been very quick here as well in the last few years, especially Kimi Antonelli's performance here last year was incredibly impressive.

"But this could certainly represent the best chance of the season that McLaren's had just because it is a little bit of a reset, and historically they have run well here."

Oscar Piastri, McLaren