McLaren’s Pit Wall Woes Cost Team Potential British GP Victory Amid Strategic Blunders

McLaren squandered a chance for a top finish at the 2024 F1 British Grand Prix, turning their initial 1-2 position into a 3-4 result at Silverstone. This outcome demonstrates that McLaren is still not prepared to contend for the F1 championship.

McLaren's struggle to take advantage of having a car that can consistently win F1 races appears to be a recurring issue in 2024. Although Lando Norris has frequently been faulted for several missed chances or errors during critical moments, both McLaren drivers were largely not at fault during the British Grand Prix.

The MCL38 couldn't match the speed of the Mercedes W15 in dry weather, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton dominating the race initially and creating a three-second lead over Max Verstappen. However, the McLaren began to perform better as the race progressed, a common occurrence in 2024, especially as the track conditions deteriorated when it started to rain.

On the 15th lap, Norris overtook Verstappen, who didn't display the same aggressive defense seen in Austria. Only two laps afterward, Oscar Piastri demonstrated McLaren's rising dominance by easily passing Verstappen at Stowe.

As the race progressed, teams began considering a change to intermediate tires due to rapidly decreasing lap times. The deteriorating weather significantly impacted the race dynamics at the front, and on Lap 18, Hamilton overtook Russell to claim the lead.

In just a short span of time, both Mercedes drivers veered off the track at Turn 1, while Norris remained steady and overtook Russell in the initial set of corners. McLaren's superior performance in the shifting conditions became clear when Norris claimed the lead from Hamilton a lap later.

By Lap 20, Piastri had caught up, securing a 1-2 position for McLaren as they maneuvered on dry tires despite the slick surface. However, as the rainfall intensified, McLaren faced a crucial choice.

McLaren's Initial Error

As Piastri trailed Norris by less than a second, McLaren faced a crucial choice. They could either have Piastri line up behind Norris, causing him to lose precious seconds, or let him continue for another lap on dry tires despite the intermediate weather conditions.

Verstappen made a precise decision by pitting at the conclusion of Lap 26, with Norris and Hamilton entering the pits on the next lap (Mercedes decided to bring Russell in at the same time, causing him to line up behind Hamilton). Piastri, however, erroneously remained on the track.

When Piastri pulled in at the end of Lap 28, he had already fallen behind by almost the duration of a pit stop (20 seconds). As a result, Piastri slipped from second place. Although he might have been overtaken by Hamilton and possibly Verstappen if he had double-stacked, McLaren would still have had an opportunity to compete for the top two positions.

McLaren's leader, Andrea Stella, promised to take lessons from the incident, admitting that the team had undoubtedly erred.

He explained after the race at Silverstone, where Crash.net was on-site, that not only should Piastri have been more assertive, but they also should have pushed harder for a double stack pit stop. By delaying Oscar's stop by one lap, they ended up losing significantly more time than they would have with a double stack.

"Looking back, it was the correct decision to halt both vehicles simultaneously. We've gained valuable insights from this experience and will improve in the future."

The second error by McLaren

As the rain ceased, the focus quickly shifted to deciding the optimal moment to change to dry tires. Conversations over the team radio indicated that McLaren was deliberating on which tire compound to use when the conditions became suitable.

For Piastri, the situation was unmistakable.

“Racing cars don’t have an intermediate option. We currently believe this is the correct tire choice, with 15 laps remaining,” Piastri was informed.

He quickly responded, "Absolutely, it's the finest."

McLaren gained an edge over their competitors due to having an extra set of fresh medium tires, which were preferred for the race. In contrast, Mercedes and Red Bull faced a choice between soft and hard tires. Hamilton posed the biggest challenge to Norris and made a pit stop one lap earlier, at the conclusion of Lap 38, with Verstappen following the same strategy.

Since Norris was ahead in the race by a few seconds, it's hard to fault McLaren for when they decided to switch to slick tires. However, the type of tires they chose puzzled many, including Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner. When Hamilton opted for soft tires, McLaren chose to do the same.

This situation had Hamilton and Norris using soft tires, while Verstappen opted for hard tires, and Piastri chose medium tires. It soon became clear that the harder tire compounds offered an advantage, as Verstappen and Piastri traded the fastest lap times.

By the 48th lap, Verstappen overtook Norris, who was having difficulties with his soft tyres, and secured the second position. Hamilton, despite being slower than both Verstappen and Piastri, showcased his exceptional skill in tyre management, reaffirming his status as one of the top drivers.

Piastri maintained a remarkable speed on the medium tires, regularly outpacing Hamilton and matching Verstappen's performance. Norris, on the other hand, was on average 0.7 seconds slower than Piastri during the race’s final segment. Consequently, it's very probable that Piastri would have secured victory over Hamilton at Silverstone if he had switched to medium tires during his last pit stop.

Was Norris at fault?

Hesitation during the team radio communication and McLaren's inability to clearly advise Norris on the optimal tire compound were the key factors that led to their downfall.

Norris commented when Hamilton went into the pits: “We should pit too; the soft tires are performing better now… any slick tires will work.”

The race engineer responded: "We have the option to go with medium tires to compete with drivers like Verstappen (who is on hard tires) or we can opt for soft tires to challenge drivers like Hamilton."

Norris said, "Do you believe Hamilton, or are you considering medium? I’m fine with either."

The engineer informed him, “We are switching to soft tires.”

In this scenario, McLaren ought to have proactively chosen to fit Norris with medium tyres since they were aware it was the optimal choice for the race, while the soft tyres were ineffective for the MCL38. Following the race, Stella conceded that their choice to use the soft tyres was “influenced” by Hamilton’s decision.

He explained that Lewis choosing to use soft tires was a significant factor in their decision to opt for medium tires. He suggested that the main question was whether the soft tires would last until the end and how much of an advantage they would provide during the race.

"Initially, switching to medium tires could be slower, but they become faster towards the end. However, we need to consider how much time we might lose in the first few laps and the risk of hitting a wet spot and losing control. In hindsight, we were too swayed by Lewis choosing soft tires. We should have stuck to our belief that medium tires were the better option."

McLaren might regret another lost chance, especially since Verstappen appeared capable of securing a fifth-place finish this weekend. Had they anticipated the Safety Car in Canada, Norris might have had a shot at winning the race.

In Spain and Austria, significant encounters with Verstappen during close racing led to Norris losing out on more wins. Although McLaren has not faced the same level of scrutiny as Ferrari (at least for now), there is still considerable effort required from the team to consistently turn their competitive speed into grand prix triumphs.

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