When Will McLaren Start Acting Like A Front-Running Team?
Formula 1
The Grand Prix this Sunday illustrated McLaren’s long road to becoming a team to beat. If they have any chance of consistently beating the Red Bull behemoth, they must perfect their strategy.
The only reason that McLaren is in contention for winning any Grand Prix is because they have the fastest car on the grid. However, the team needs to act like it. McLaren frequently makes calls that make you scratch your head. The team still behaves as if they are running in the midfield, yet they just won a McLaren 1-2 today (after a series of unprofessional radio calls and dubious decisions).
Here are a few examples of these choices:
Hungarian Grand Prix (today): Oscar Piastri led the race until lap 46, when they told Lando Norris to pit. This call was made to Lando before Oscar could pit, effectively undercutting the young Australian. When they finally pitted Oscar, Lando led the race with a 3-second lead in front of Oscar. In an attempt to fix their fuck up, they asked Lando to move over for Oscar. They then begged up and were downright pleading with Lando to move over for Oscar for 15 laps when Lando was leading by 5 seconds. In the end, Lando moved over, but it tainted Oscar’s first Grand Prix win and upset fans and drivers alike. The reason for asking Lando to move over after he had such a lead is still a mystery. The team had a secured McLaren 1-2 either way. This incident shows that the strategists dropped the ball on race strategy, pit stops, and driver satisfaction.
Silverstone Grand Prix: Lando Norris led the race, but it was time for a pit stop. Behind him were Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Lewis and Max decided to pit and use fresh tires for the last stint of the race. Lando and McLaren agreed to stay out for one more lap, which would seal Lando’s fate. Lewis’ pit stop was lightning fast, which put him out in front of Lando after he decided to pit. Lando was spit out in front of Max Verstappen, who would eventually pass him—putting the race front runner from P1-P3.
Canadian Grand Prix: Like Silverstone, Lando again led the race when he and McLaren kept him out on his used tires one lap too long. Max undercut McLaren and won the Grand Prix, thus costing Lando another win.
If McLaren does not start acting like a winning team, another team will. Whether that is Red Bull regaining its wings or Mercedes finally putting together a fast car, only time will tell, but McLaren is running out of time. McLaren has been quoted as saying they are “inexperienced” compared to other teams. The inexperience is now showing, whereas it was not as pronounced when they were in the midfield at the beginning of the year. Since I am not a strategist or an engineer, it is not my place to give advice. I can only hope that McLaren pulls it together.
Here are some questions to contemplate:
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I don't think Hamilton ever posed the threat to Lando that they thought which makes the decision to pit him first to cover Lewis especially puzzling and unnecessary.