McLaren’s Monaco weekend ended with a double points finish, certainly an important result for a team that is trying to get back on top. A double top ten that the British team undoubtedly conquered on the track, even if there are several elements that leave somewhat conflicting sensations.
Indeed, in the first part of the race, both drivers explained the difficulties encountered on the slicks, in which they didn’t have the pace to keep up with Yuki Tsunoda, who had built a safety margin on the McLaren duo. However, the arrival of the rain, as well as the brake problems suffered by the Japanese driver, changed the cards on the table, highlighting the abilities of the MCL60 in the wet.
The leading group is now quite clear, with Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin having a faster car than the Woking team. Furthermore, Alpine also showed that it has a rather fast single-seater on its side and, in Monaco, it was able to materialize by bringing both A523s into the top ten, a result further enhanced by the podium of Esteban Ocon.
The McLaren double pit stop where they switched from dry to intermediate tyres
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“The situation can be seen in two ways. One is that Alpine has joined the list of clearly faster cars than us, and we need a bit of an eventful situation – like today with [Sergio] Perez and [Lance] Stroll – to enter points. At the same time we are satisfied with the execution of the race, with the fact that we stayed out of trouble. Everyone, including the riders, interpreted the race in a very positive way,” explained Andrea Stella.
Clearly, the goal is to consistently re-enter this fight and, to achieve this, McLaren should bring new updates packages in the next races: “Looking forward, the plan is to make the car more competitive. We plan the package which should be available between Austria and Great Britain, which should take the car to a more competitive level and will be the basis for future developments next year. Another major update is planned for the second half of the season.”
Returning to the race, with the intermediate tyres, both team drivers found great confidence and grip at the wheel, setting extremely competitive times for the situation, so much so that in the last ten laps they made up about twenty seconds on the Ferrari drivers. However, many wondered why McLaren stopped Lando Norris twice in just a few laps, first to fit a new set of hard tyres, then for the intermediates.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“Before it started to rain we pitted Lando on the hard tyres. Here in Monaco the topology, the configuration of the mountains, makes the difference when the rain comes from that direction. The rain behind the mountains had already been there for a couple of hours, if not more. The question was whether or not it would get over the mountains. We were relatively certain that sooner or later the rain would come”, said Andrea Stella at the end of the race, explaining the British rider’s situation.
“Unfortunately, the forecast said that it would be rain of class zero-one, i.e. light rain. For this reason we didn’t want to leave Lando with the dry tires that were no longer there, because in that situation, the dry tire goes off and becomes plastic. So we thought about putting it on new hard tyres, because the hard ones are relatively soft here.”
“But then, after a lap or two, the rain got very heavy in a couple of places and clearly we had to switch to intermediates. I think in these situations it is very difficult due to the topography. Wind direction and even radar aren’t very helpful in figuring out the intensity level.”
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“In hindsight one could say that with Lando we should have stayed out, but how could we have tackled those two laps with used dry tires when there was a lot of water in some corners? We could be here discussing why he would have ended up in the wall,” added the McLaren Team Principal.
The MCL60 performed extremely well in the wet and, according to Stella, part of the credit is also due to the riders and their skills: “I think these are conditions in which the rider’s skill makes the difference, because I believe they are conditions in which the more you manage to push on the tyres, the more the tires reward you, because they generate temperatures. It is therefore a sort of positive spiral, while if you don’t push and hesitate, you don’t generate temperatures, you have a negative spiral”.
“So I would like to point out that Lando drove very well on the intermediate tyres, but Oscar too, after finding his speed, considering it was his second time on the intermediate tires and that he was in Monaco, had good pace. Well done to our drivers, then, and it’s a pity the race wasn’t longer on the intermediate tyres. It could have been more rewarding for us,” Stella added.
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