McLaren extended its streak of podium finishes in Belgium, as Oscar Piastri secured second place. The team has acknowledged that the championship will deter them from employing “bold strategies” similar to George Russell’s one-stop approach in the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. Russell exceeded expectations at Spa-Francorchamps by opting for one fewer pit stop, which initially led him to victory until he was disqualified due to his car being underweight. After the race, Russell expressed his astonishment that other drivers did not adopt his strategy, and Piastri, who finished third, admitted that it was considered. Instead, the Australian driver chose to run a longer middle stint and launched a late charge to catch up with the leading Mercedes cars, but he was unable to find an opportunity to overtake. McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, explained that the pit wall’s concern about the potential failure of a one-stop strategy influenced their decision to stick with a more conventional plan. When asked if Piastri could have attempted a one-stop strategy, Stella responded, “In hindsight, we did consider it, but we were not certain that it would work. If this kind of strategy fails, it can be very detrimental because it would be too late to pit, resulting in a significant loss of positions. Committing to this strategy could potentially ruin a race day.” Stella also revealed that McLaren was taken by surprise when Piastri struggled to overtake the Mercedes cars, as they had initially believed that they had a strong pace and could recover positions with a conventional pit stop. However, they discovered that the tire degradation was lower than expected, and overtaking proved to be more challenging than anticipated. The impact of the “dirty air” made it difficult for drivers to execute overtaking maneuvers, even with a slight advantage in tire performance, as demonstrated by the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Russell.
Stella also disclosed that McLaren’s rising challenge to Red Bull in the championship has become a factor in determining the team’s strategies.
“I believe Russell may have had more incentive to take a risky approach in his position, in case it didn’t work out,” the Italian emphasized.
“However, we prefer to approach things with greater stability. As we can see today, we have once again outperformed Red Bull and are now only 43 points behind.
“We should exercise caution with adventurous strategies, which, in hindsight, have proven to be successful today.”
Meanwhile, Lando Norris missed another excellent opportunity to enhance his own championship aspirations, especially with Max Verstappen, the current leader, receiving a 10-place grid penalty.
Norris, who started the race seven places ahead of Verstappen, regretted running his wheels into the gravel at Turn 1 at the start, which resulted in him trailing behind the Dutch driver in fifth position.
Similar to his teammate, McLaren later decided to pit Norris, surrendering track position to Verstappen, who successfully defended against Norris’ attempts to overtake in the final laps.
When asked if McLaren should have followed Russell’s strategy to counter Norris’ slow start, Stella responded, “I need to evaluate this situation, I must admit.
“I need to determine if Lando was in the right position to do so, as extending the race tends to result in losing positions on the track.
“Our plan for Lando was solid. We were just a bit surprised that we couldn’t overtake.
“The other surprise could also be attributed to Verstappen’s exceptional driving skills.
“He managed to make the Medium tires last in the final stint, something that not many other drivers achieved today. We expected his tires to degrade, but they didn’t.
“So we thought overtaking Verstappen would be easy, but it turned out not to be the case.
“I will need to review whether it would have been a good idea for Lando to simply follow Russell’s lead.”
