From Miami onwards, McLaren changed pace, in what proved to be a growth path that led it to fight with a certain consistency for victory in the last five races. A change of pace which, however, also led to understanding what the strengths and weaknesses are not only of the car, but of the complete package, including the team and the driver.
When margins become thin and gaps are reduced to hundredths of a second, then those elements that were not decisive before now make the difference. Precisely for this reason, even within the Woking team they are aware that to beat Red Bull we must not only work on certain characteristics of the car, but also in other areas to maximize the full potential of the package.
From this point of view, the Grand Prix in Spain confirmed that the Max-Red Bull package remains the most complete in terms of driver effectiveness and on-track operations, especially in terms of strategies, an aspect on which McLaren undoubtedly has margins of growth. Of course, losing first place at the start had an important influence on the outcome of the race, but there are elements on which the Woking team can still make steps forward to have a more competitive package on all fronts.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
In his characteristic self-critical style, Norris did not fail to berate himself at the end of the Grand Prix, underlining how he could not have won, but should have won, given that from his point of view he had the most competitive car of the lot. In fact, the British had suggested that everything had been 99% successful, but that it was just that 1% missing to achieve the triumph, that is, the start when the traffic lights went out.
When asked how that 1% can be filled, Norris responded: “I don’t think there’s a simple answer. My start wasn’t bad either. At the time maybe I was a little too critical in saying that I had a bad start, but that’s not the case and George would have passed me anyway,” said Norris, in fact, the first phase of the start, that of releasing the clutch, was not negative, but it was the progression that took its toll and, moreover, in the end. specifically, the transition between first and second gear, in which he suffered a more pronounced slide than his opponents. A not exceptional sprint, with the Briton attempting to close on Verstappen, then allowed Russell to find a space to enter, being able to brake on the cleanest line when braking into turn one, where he took the lead of the race.
“It’s just that in every little area we need a little more preparation or a little more practice on Friday or Saturday to get those things right. I could have easily been a hero and gone to the outside of Max, but that would have caused a crash and I would have ended up knocking Russell out,” Norris added, noting that more precision is needed to hone the final details.
“Overall, I think we did well on strategy too, I’m very satisfied with 99.5%. Just a couple of meters out cost me a lot last weekend.”
![Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2jX1p1k6/s1000/race-start-lando-norris-mclare.jpg)
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
It’s just one example of how every little detail has to be perfect to challenge Red Bull, because those little imperfections now have a greater specific weight. However, Norris himself also returned to the question of the performance of the MCL38. After the race in Spain, the driver of the English team did not hide his regret at not having made the most of what, from his point of view, had been the fastest car on the grid. Having calmly analyzed last weekend’s data, however, Norris tried to reduce expectations around the MCL38.
“After looking at last weekend, I don’t think we necessarily had a quicker car than Red Bull. I looked quicker than Max because of my extended stints, having a decent tyre delta compared to him. It might not seem like anything, but four laps of tyre delta compared to another car in Barcelona is an extreme value in terms of lap time difference,” said Norris.
In the first stint, in fact, the British driver had extended his stint by six laps compared to Verstappen, with a tyre offset that was reduced to just three laps in the final part of the race. Thus Norris was able to recover over seconds in less than twenty laps, a figure that is difficult to attribute to just three laps of difference in terms of tyre life, especially considering that the McLaren driver himself was on used tyres, unlike the new set mounted on the Dutchman’s car.
However, the last Grand Prix also highlighted McLaren’s progress, capable of growing in the slower sections where until last year it showed great weaknesses. Now it’s about putting all the pieces of the puzzle together, working on every detail: “There are just little things I needed to get right and as a team we need to do a slightly better job,” he added.
![Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, makes a pit stop](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6gp5GjG0/s1000/1020246621-lat-20240623-gp2410.jpg)
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, makes a pit stop
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“But a lot has been done at the necessary level, so that we can go and win some races. I think it is possible, given the performance of the team and my current performance. But we are against one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1, a of the best teams in Formula 1, so everything has to be executed to perfection and last weekend it wasn’t executed to perfection.
On the other side of the pits, it was a difficult weekend for Oscar Piastri, undoubtedly complicated by a qualifying in which, due to various mistakes in Q3, he was unable to gain a good position on the grid. A factor that had an important specific weight in the Australian’s chances of a comeback but, in reality, there are also other elements that penalized his performances, including setup errors.
“There were definitely some things in the setup that caused some issues. While certain things weren’t serious, they had a much bigger impact than we thought at the time. So I think there’s a lot of evidence to support the fact that I struggled a bit more. Definitely a couple of things in terms of driving as well, but yeah, I think we’ve got some pretty clear answers,” said the Australian, who explained that he found answers to his issues in the weekend’s debrief, also thanks to the use of some “offline” simulation analysis of how certain details affected certain aspects of the car.
Piastri himself then spoke about the comparison with Red Bull, underlining how McLaren is aware of the fact that the Anglo-Austrian team is a reference in many aspects: “I don’t think we have ever underestimated Red Bull and their operational capacity. I think their pitstops have always been the best in the paddock and their strategic department has always been very strong. We knew that, even if we had a car as fast as theirs, it would have been difficult to beat them, and I think that is the case”.
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