Leclerc: We have upgrades coming

The 2024 Formula 1 season started with Red Bull in the lead with Ferrari their closest challenger, while McLaren was busy fighting with Mercedes for third best.

But by the sixth race in Miami, McLaren brought a major upgrade package to their MCL38 (fully in Norris' car, partially on Oscar Piastri's) which reminded us of the mid season package which they brought in Austria last year turning their 2023 campaign around.

It is too early to say Red Bull lost their top spot, as it was a combination of McLaren's strong pace, a Safety Car, not to mention Verstappen's weekend long discomfort with his RB20, that meant Norris beat the reigning F1 in Miami on Sunday.

But Ferrari are now playing catch-up with McLaren, but Leclerc seems to be unabated after finishing third in the Miami GP.

Speaking in Ferrari's post race report, the Monegasque said: "A tough race today [Sunday].

"The first lap was a close call and thankfully we got away without any damage there," he added referring to Sergio Perez's lunge into Turn one that almost wiped out Verstappen as well as both Ferraris.

"We held second place, focusing on tyre management. We stopped rather early, which unfortunately cost us after a Virtual Safety Car and Safety Car were deployed, giving others the opportunity to pit. We struggled on older tyres, and had to fight to keep the pace.

"We have our upgrades coming shortly, so hopefully we can join the fight for victories soon. Congratulations to Lando (Norris) for his first victory, I hope he enjoys it fully," Leclerc concluded.

Sainz crossed the finish fourth after having quite the tussle with McLaren's Piastri, he commented: "Congratulations to Lando, I'm truly happy for him! He deserved a win for a long time and today was his day.

"Looking at my race I would say the opposite, it wasn’t my day. The start was very good but I went from P2 at turn 1 to P4 after having to avoid Perez. From there I was in a DRS train for some laps and decided to open the gap, take care of the tyres and extend my first stint to try something different. Unfortunately, the Safety Car came out the lap after I pitted and we lost a chance to lead the race. It is what it is.

"However, I'm quite happy with my race because the pace was very strong and at the end of the day we scored good points for the team. On to the next one," the Spaniard concluded.

However, after the race, Sainz was slapped with a five second time penalty for contact with Piastri while trying to pass the Australian. That means he was classified fifth, with Perez promoted to fourth.

Sainz had not commented on his penalty at the time of writing of this report. Ferrari just announced the penalty with no further comment.

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur added: "First of all I want to congratulate Lando and McLaren because it’s a first win for a driver who is very popular in the paddock and we are happy for him. It was also a good result for Formula 1 as a whole.

"From our side we had a strong race and we were able to stay with Max (Verstappen) all race long. We were a bit unlucky with the Safety Car with Carlos but it is what it is and we have to stick with the positives, especially the fact that the pace was there all weekend.

"Charles had a pretty straightforward race. However, for Carlos the start was not ideal because of Perez’s mistake at turn 1. Today track position was very important, as it was very difficult to overtake and he lost two places through the first two corners. However he had very good pace and was able to come back at the end.

"The next Grand Prix is in Imola, which has been the scene of some really exciting racing in recent years. Before then everyone in Maranello will be working hard to ensure we get a better result than we did today," Vasseur concluded.