Following Max Verstappen`s recent win for Red Bull at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, attention has once again turned to McLaren`s strategic choices during the race.
Verstappen took the lead from pole-sitter Oscar Piastri on the opening lap. However, claiming victory wasn`t straightforward, especially with the second McLaren, driven by Lando Norris, soon overtaking George Russell to move into third place.
While Verstappen`s pace at Imola was arguably higher than many anticipated, some observers suggest McLaren`s decisions during the race might have unintentionally eased the path for the Dutch driver.
One notable call was pitting Oscar Piastri, who was less than three seconds behind Verstappen at the time, as early as lap 13. This early stop effectively committed him to a less favourable two-stop strategy.
This tactic proved problematic, as several leading contenders, including Verstappen and Norris, stayed out longer on their tyres. They found enough longevity in their rubber to successfully switch to a one-stop approach, while Piastri was forced to navigate slower traffic after his early stop.
McLaren then pitted Norris on lap 28, just before Verstappen made his stop. Unluckily for the team, a Virtual Safety Car was deployed moments later when Esteban Ocon`s car stopped on track.
This timing was undoubtedly unfortunate and impossible to predict. However, the longer a driver remains on track, the greater their chance of benefiting from such unexpected race interruptions.
Following the VSC, Verstappen`s lead doubled, increasing from roughly 10 to 20 seconds, and he appeared to be cruising towards victory with significant gaps behind him to Norris and Piastri.
However, another incident – a technical failure for Mercedes` Kimi Antonelli causing him to stop – triggered a full Safety Car period. This compressed the field and offered McLaren a renewed opportunity to challenge Verstappen.
Holding an advantage of more than a pit-stop over Norris, Verstappen pitted from the lead, with Norris following him into the pits shortly after.
Piastri, however, stayed out and emerged ahead of Norris. Crucially, he was on older hard compound tyres, 16 laps older than Norris`s freshly fitted set.
It seemed highly improbable that Piastri, on significantly older tyres, could challenge Verstappen, who also had fresh rubber. Conversely, it appeared almost certain that Norris, on his newer tyres, would easily overtake his teammate in the remaining 10 laps.
Consequently, McLaren had the option to issue a team order instructing Piastri to let Norris pass, giving Norris a chance to pressure Verstappen in the final stages. They chose not to.
Villeneuve Criticizes McLaren`s Strategy
Ultimately, Norris did pass Piastri for second place, but Verstappen secured a comfortable victory. Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was critical of McLaren`s strategic decisions.
Villeneuve commented, “They exhibit weakness. Essentially, they don`t display the kind of strength and decisiveness that Red Bull consistently shows year after year.”
He added, “It`s as if they are hesitant to be aggressive in their pursuit of the Drivers` Championship and reluctant to make decisions that might seem unfavourable to Piastri. It`s genuinely quite peculiar.”
Regarding Piastri`s start, Villeneuve said, “Piastri mishandled that first corner. He seemed caught off guard. He really shouldn`t have ended up second there, and subsequently, his pace was surprisingly lacking, unlike Norris who had better speed.”
“After the restart,” Villeneuve continued, “McLaren surely knew it was only a matter of laps before Norris would overtake Piastri due to the tyre difference; it was obvious.”
“It was 100 per cent clear he would get ahead,” he argued, “so why make him lose three laps instead of immediately giving him the opportunity to challenge Verstappen?”
The race result saw Norris reduce the gap to Piastri to 13 points, while Verstappen closed to within 22 points of the lead.
Villeneuve continued by saying, “Because Verstappen is a championship contender. You don`t want to hand Verstappen wins. That just earns him more points in the Drivers` Championship.”
“They appear content with securing second and third places,” he observed. “McLaren`s current car is capable of achieving a one-two finish on a strong weekend, making anything less somewhat disappointing. While first and third is fairly acceptable, they seem satisfied with just second and third.”
He added, “That lack of strength is also evident in their strategy. When Norris extended his initial stint, why did they pit him when they did?”
“They had made the decision to run a longer stint,” Villeneuve argued. “His pace was still strong. So why pit him slightly early? It suggests a hesitation to truly push for the win.”
“They failed to capitalize on the Virtual Safety Car opportunity,” he stated. “Ultimately, the subsequent full Safety Car meant it didn`t alter the final outcome significantly, but it still highlighted a lack of that `let`s go for it` mentality.”
McLaren Personnel Defend Decisions
While allowing Norris to pass might have boosted McLaren`s chances of victory, it`s understandable that Piastri would be reluctant to yield a position that would swing significant championship points (10 points difference between 2nd and 3rd) in his teammate`s favour.
Lando Norris seemed to understand the team`s perspective and praised the pit wall, stating they did “a good job”.
“I had better tyres, but I wasn`t expecting any preferential treatment,” Norris explained. “It was still a fair battle. It was close through turn one. That`s how racing should be, of course.”
“We both lost a bit of time battling through that,” he admitted, “but it`s what we have to do when competing for a championship.”
“If you try and make one person happy, the other one will likely be unhappy, so that`s just the reality of it.”
“Overall, I think we handled the situation well, and the team did a good job,” he concluded.
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella confirmed that the possibility of implementing a team order was considered before deciding against it.
“It was definitely a thought,” Stella stated.
“We wanted to give Oscar his own chances at the restart,” Stella explained. “Our principle was that if Lando had the pace to pass Max, he should be able to pass Oscar quite easily, especially considering Oscar was on relatively old tyres.”
“In reality, if the pace difference was sufficient, the positions would have naturally sorted themselves out. We are satisfied with how events unfolded.”
“Both drivers are content, feel it was fair, and that`s consistent with our approach to racing,” Stella added.
Chadwick Believes Team Orders Premature
Jamie Chadwick, a three-time W Series champion and pundit, suggested it`s too early in the season for McLaren to start enforcing team orders, as doing so could risk damaging the team`s internal chemistry.
Commenting on the situation, Chadwick said, “It`s the classic scenario of having two number one drivers. This happens because there isn`t one driver who is clearly outstanding. I think if Red Bull had a driver of equal talent to Max alongside him, they would probably face the same kind of headache.”
“It`s a beneficial problem to have, as we`ve discussed,” she added. “It`s not a negative thing that they have two excellent drivers contending for a world championship. However, they cannot start imposing those kinds of orders so early in the season that one of the drivers immediately becomes resentful towards the other.”
“It`s a complex situation. I do anticipate that there will be some tension at some point; I think we can predict that already. Even looking at today`s race, it got quite close between them.”
“I believe when that eventual clash happens, that`s when McLaren will truly need to manage it effectively,” she concluded. “Until then, I think they are playing a good game as a team.”
Today, Max simply outpaced them, which is often the expectation, and the race played out accordingly.
