McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, has stated that they will reevaluate team strategies in order to fully support Lando Norris in his quest to surpass Max Verstappen in the race for the Formula One world title.
On Sunday, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed victory at the Italian Grand Prix, leaving McLaren to take the second and third places through Oscar Piastri and Norris, following their initial starting positions of one-two on the grid. Despite Verstappen ending the race a distant sixth, Norris could only make up eight points against the reigning world champion.
For several races now, Norris has emerged as the lone serious competition to Verstappen, who races for Red Bull. However, McLaren has always maintained that their drivers are free to race, and they demonstrated this at Monza, with Piastri superseding Norris on the first lap. While McLaren and their drivers were engrossed in their own competition, Ferrari orchestrated a flawless one-stop strategy, which ultimately secured them the win.
After the race, McLaren was consistently queried about their decision not to implement team orders to reinforce Norris and why they didn’t rearrange their driver lineup at the end to optimise Norris’s potential points advantage over Verstappen.
Stella confessed that the team now recognises they are in a genuine competition with Verstappen and Red Bull and will contemplate fully endorsing Norris for the forthcoming eight rounds. The British driver currently boasts a total of 241 points, putting him 62 points behind Verstappen’s 303.
Stella noted, “It may appear harsh to ask a driver who gained a race-winning position on the track to exchange places, but we’ll review all these factors for the upcoming races. If we jointly decide that swapping is the appropriate move, then that’s what we’ll do.”
McLaren is only eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ competition, marking the first time this season that McLaren has recognised their potential to compete for the drivers’ championship. Many argue that it is a somewhat belated acknowledgement, considering Norris has been gradually reducing Verstappen’s lead and Red Bull’s recent performance dip.
“Definitely, the drivers’ competition appears to be in reach now,” Stella stated. Previously, the team had exercised caution prior to Monza, but now it’s clear that McLaren has the capability to contend on tracks where they were outmatched last year.
“In terms of numbers, Lando is in the most favourable spot. Our rival is Max Verstappen, so if we are to back a driver, we must choose the one in the best position and Lando has performed admirably,” he said.
Verstappen hasn’t experienced a victory in the last six races, his last win being the Spanish Grand Prix in late June. Given McLaren’s advantage in having the fastest car on both high-downforce and low-downforce tracks, as demonstrated in Zandvoort and Monza, they’re in a favourable position. Stella admitted that the team needs to leverage this advantage.
He said, “We need to improve our ability to seize the opportunities Red Bull currently leaves on the table by not being up to their usual podium-contending standard.” – Guardian.