F1 | McLaren: a stinging defeat, but now it’s the anti-Red Bull

“We should have won, but things went differently.” As soon as he got out of the car, Lando Norris was very sporty in the heat, remembering how the safety car gave him a caress in Miami and a slap in Montreal. An hour later, however, his analysis changed, revealing responsibilities that went beyond the entry of the official car onto the track.

Norris, who maintained third position on the starting grid at the start, accumulated a ten-second gap from the leading Russell-Verstappen tandem in the first ten laps. At this stage both Norris and Oscar Piastri followed the team’s instructions. “We had no pressure behind us – explained team principal Andrea Stella – so we started saving the tires very, very early, even when it wasn’t necessary, trying to find the wettest areas of the track to make sure the tires remained in good condition. conditions”.

The plan worked, and as the track progressively dried out Lando’s pace improved significantly, allowing him to catch and overtake both Verstappen on lap 20 and Russell on the following lap. Norris’ pace in this phase was by far the best ever, managing to cross the finish line on lap 24 with 7″721 on Verstappen (who in the meantime had passed Russell).

Then the safety car entered the track following Logan Sargeant’s off-track exit. Norris would have had time to immediately enter the pits for the pit stop and maintain the lead behind the service car, but the call to enter the pit lane did not arrive, and Lando remained on track for another lap behind the safety car to find himself (after the stop) again in third position.

“We didn’t do a good enough job as a team – explained Lando – we had time to return to the pits and we didn’t, so I was stuck for a lap behind the safety car. So I don’t think it was a matter of luck or bad luck. We should have won the race, we didn’t and it’s frustrating, we had the pace, we just should have won.” “I don’t think it’s an episode similar to Miami – added Norris – it was simply a wrong call. It depends on me and the team, and it’s something we will discuss.”

After the race Stella explained the choices of the pit wall. “We took a quick look (at Norris’s track position) when we went into safety car mode, and Lando was probably a second and a half away from the point where you have to decide whether or not to go into the lane leading into pit lane. In hindsight, we should have previously told the driver ‘in case of safety car entry, enter the pits’, putting him in a position to have all the scenarios clear and act accordingly.”

“We were monitoring the intensity of the rain, observing that in the last few minutes it was reducing. So we didn’t want to stop unnecessarily in the pits to fit a new set of intermediate tires considering that they would only be suitable in case of rain. I think Lando was a little ‘Unfortunate, not only for the moment in which the safety car came onto the track, but also for the position and pace that was by far the fastest driver on the track.’

“Today we are at a level where we cannot be satisfied with second place – concluded Lando – the objective is to win and we didn’t do that”. A dry analysis, that of Norris, but from which also emerges how much good McLaren is doing on the technical front. Beyond the missed call that affected Lando’s race, the balance of the weekend in Montreal is an important confirmation for the present and future of the team.

Being able to fight for victory consistently is great news, then, obviously, the competition at the top also requires a perfect structure in every aspect, and a bit of running in is natural for there to be. Twelve months ago Norris finished the Canadian Grand Prix in thirteenth position, over a minute behind Verstappen, today he leaves Montreal with the fifth podium of the season and third position in the world championship standings, seven points behind Charles Leclerc. The glass is abundantly half full.