Oscar Piastri from Australia, driving the McLaren MCL38, made a pit stop during the Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, on 24.03.2024. On race day, McLaren explained their decision to pit Piastri before Lando Norris in an attempt to get him ahead of Charles Leclerc.
At the time of the pit stop, Norris was in second place on the track, two positions ahead of his teammate. McLaren strategically chose to pit Piastri first at the end of lap 9, giving him the opportunity to overtake Norris. Four laps later, Norris made his first pit stop, but Piastri’s earlier stop allowed him to quickly close the gap.
Although McLaren could have used team orders to move Norris ahead, the British driver argued that there were missed opportunities to beat Leclerc’s Ferrari and secure second place. Stella, a McLaren representative, clarified that the team decided to pit Piastri first, deviating from their usual protocol, to get both cars ahead of the Ferrari. However, Ferrari seemed to have heard McLaren’s radio communication and brought their driver in at the same time.
Norris mentioned that McLaren would need to review if they could have used the undercut strategy on Leclerc during the second round of pit stops. Stella, in turn, defended the strategists from criticism, explaining that McLaren chose to delay Norris’ stops to maintain an advantage towards the end of the race. He also mentioned that the early stage of the race presented uncertainties about the performance of the hard tires, as they had not been extensively tested during practice.
“We didn’t want to take unnecessary risks with Lando. In a race with significant tire wear, you usually gain positions towards the end,” Stella added. “The main reason we weren’t successful was because Ferrari was faster today, although the difference wasn’t significant.”
Last season, McLaren used team orders to allow the faster Norris to overtake Piastri on three occasions during the Grand Prix races in Hungary, Italy, and Japan. Stella had previously stated that McLaren would avoid intervening whenever possible, following their successful double podium in Suzuka.
Norris claimed he would have overtaken Piastri on track anyway, while Piastri himself accepted that the team’s decision was made in the best interest of his overall result.
