McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has warned against a repeat of the stunning qualifying form from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the British Grand Prix.
The two drivers will start second and third on the grid respectively at Silverstone behind two-time F1 champion Max Verstappen who claimed the 26th pole position of his career.
The performance was validation of the upgrades applied to both cars – albeit with Piastri remaining a step behind Norris as the package is being staggered across three races, and with the British driver first in the queue on each occasion.
Stella concedes, however, “a pattern” has emerged as the MCL60 has developed a liking for specific conditions – “high-speed corners, cold conditions, soft tyres, the same compound symmetry”, as seen in Barcelona where Norris qualified third for the Spanish Grand Prix.
“The rear end kind of naturally finds some good grip, which we may be missing in continuous laps, or when it’s hotter, so the conditions come to our favour.
“But still, we have GPS overlays and we can see that some cars are quicker than us which just confirms what is our objective in terms of development.”
The concern for Stella is that race pace remains an area under development, and which could again McLaren’s Achilles heel, with Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton lurking over their shoulder.
“While we have improved the car in terms of aerodynamic efficiency, we haven’t yet made large enough improvements in terms of elements that can condition, that can improve the race pace,” said Stella.
“There are cars around us that will be quicker in terms of race pace, Ferrari, and possibly Mercedes as well.
“We’ll also see how well Aston Martin does tomorrow. It will depend, to some extent, on the conditions. Cold conditions should favour us, for the same reasons I said before, even in the race.”
Despite the proximity of his two drivers to one another on the grid, Stella is confident they will be acutely aware of the need to steer clear of one another and stay out of trouble on the opening lap, in particular, if they are to give themselves the best chance of a positive result.
In Barcelona, Norris started third but a collision with Hamilton on the first lap necessitated an immediate stop from which he never recovered.
“They’ve already been next to each other on the grid,” said Stella, as was the case in Monaco and Spain. “And we have regular conversations before every single race.
“It’s Lando and Oscar, they know exactly what to do. In fairness, it will be the same as with any other driver. What’s important is to see the chequered flag.
“We have already had some impact of racing incidents this year, if you think Barcelona, for Lando, it was pretty much decided for him at corner one.
“We had a situation in Austria during the sprint, so we are just aiming to have a clean race, exploit the potential that is available, and I’m sure the drivers will want exactly the same.”
Discussion about this post