F1 | McLaren: ineffective strategies, but Stella defends the team

The first three Grands Prix of the season had seen Ferrari establish itself as the second force in each of the three events. Despite not having the pace of the Red, in Australia the McLaren was not that far from the Cavallino team and there was hope that the Suzuka track, among the most suitable on the calendar for the MCL38, could change the values ​​on the field.

In fact, on Saturday Lando Norris was able to take a nice third place, putting the first SF-24 behind him by about two tenths. The Red team proved to be very competitive in the second sector, but not so in the first half-time, partly due to the difficulties highlighted in managing the tires in the single lap, both from the point of view of the warm-up and of administration during the entire session. so much so that the drivers even tried different approaches during qualifying.

McLaren was aware that, from the data from Friday and Saturday, the Maranello team would potentially have had a good race pace, even if the fuel and maps used remained unknown. The hope, however, was to be able to reach the podium and put the two SF-24s behind us, especially that of Carlos Sainz, who started from the fourth spot on the starting grid.

Furthermore, Ferrari and McLaren had different options in terms of sets of rubber available: if the Italian team could count on two sets of medium and only one set of hard, the English team found itself in the opposite situation, with two sets of tires white band and only one of the medium one. A choice which, according to McLaren, should have guaranteed greater strategic flexibility, especially if the degradation values ​​found were higher than expected.

Starting with the average, Norris maintained his third position achieved in qualifying, although behind him Sainz was always able to stay under a second and a half gap. However, in reality, the Briton was one of the first to stop during the eleventh lap, meaning he only covered about ten laps on the medium tyre. A stop much earlier than what was also predicted by Pirelli itself, which for such a short stint had actually suggested the soft, given that the ratio between extra performance in terms of grip and degradation would have almost gone in favor of the softer compound. soft, as done by Fernando Alonso and other mid-pack drivers.

Clearly, anticipating the stop so much allowed the others to try to extend, although not so markedly, because the two stops in sequence of the MCL38s then had a cascade effect on the other teams too, starting with Aston Martin. After the race, Stella explained the reasons for this aggressive strategy: “I think we were a bit short of options because, when we stopped Lando at the start, we knew that Ferrari was ready to undercut us,” he said the Team Principal of McLaren.

“So we wanted to play early. We had two tough sets, so we could stop early, and by stopping Lando early we wanted to see if we could aim for the podium? And we also tried to understand if we can aim to beat Perez.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“We thought it was worth a try. Ultimately, this led to us having a race that might have been slightly disadvantageous from an overall time point of view [della gara], but I think it was worth a try. So, on Lando's part, we are happy that he wanted to try to finish on the podium.”

As Stella rightly pointed out, the strategy tried with Norris was in fact poorly optimised, mainly driven by the fact of having two sets of hard tires with which to try to lengthen the stints. The hope was that the time gained at the start of each early stint and the more contained degradation of the harder compound could somehow compensate for the negative offset in terms of tire life created compared to the rivals.

From the eight second gap accumulated by Norris at the moment of his first stop in which he opted for the medium tires against the hard ones of the Briton, Sainz was able to close the gap to under two seconds, thus getting dangerously close to the McLaren. An aspect also mentioned by Andrea Stella himself, who however also wanted to underline the role of Leclerc, who at that moment was in front of Norris, almost about to make what would have been his only stop.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“The timing of the second stop was forced by Leclerc. Furthermore, Carlos was getting closer to Lando,” said the Team Principal, without however going into detail. Maybe the doubt was that Leclerc could act as a stopper in some way, allowing the Spaniard to get closer? As discussed before the race, the single-stop option was left more in the background, not because it wasn't possible, but because in terms of overall time a two-stop tactic wouldn't be worth it. Given that that should have been the ideal window for the Monegasque to stop, his role seems to take a back seat.

It is true that, instead, Sainz could have attempted the attack on the track, rather than a real undercut, because this would have exposed the Spaniard to a very long third stint without any real motivation. In that case the scenarios of the race would have changed and this is why, once again, the Woking team wanted to try something different, significantly anticipating Norris' stop.

To give an idea of ​​how much was anticipated, just think that the Briton covered 14 laps on the hard, which roughly corresponds to the distance covered by his rivals on the medium in the first part of the race with a full tank. Furthermore, the McLaren driver stopped on the same lap as Leclerc, who on the contrary was on a different strategy. In fact, team papaya seemed more like a forced attempt to protect itself than a well-optimized choice.

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“Perhaps Carlos would have overtaken Lando and, once Carlos overtook Lando, Lando would have lost time in the slipstream, finding himself behind Hamilton and Russell,” added the Team Principal. However, it is worth mentioning how, in reality, not only did Norris come out behind his Mercedes compatriot after his second stop, but also that the Brackley team, in turn, was on a totally poorly optimized strategy at the time it was It was decided to switch from a one-stop to a two-stop tactic.

“When you fight with so many cars, there are several implications to consider. It's not like you're racing with just one car. I don't know how much fun it is for the spectators, but for us it makes the race quite complex.”

After the race, while admitting that the Ferraris were expected to have a higher race pace, Norris also suggested that he could have done something different by lengthening the middle stint. At that point, in fact, the problem did not only become Sainz, but also Leclerc himself, who now had to be overtaken on the track, effectively losing fourth place as well. In fact, a gap of ten laps in terms of tire life was created between the Spaniard and the Briton, which was impossible to bridge in that context.