Abhay Singh
McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, has veritably affirmed their intention to meticulously reassess the implementation of team directives to strategically favor and bolster Lando Norris in his endeavor to surpass Max Verstappen and secure the coveted Formula One world championship title.
The race was an ideal chance for Norris to close the gap
At the enthralling Italian Grand Prix held recently, Charles Leclerc showcased his driving prowess by clinching victory for Ferrari, overshadowing McLaren’s commendable yet lesser second and third place finishes secured by Oscar Piastri and Norris, respectively, after starting the race in a promising one-two position.
Despite Verstappen’s lackluster performance, settling for a distant sixth place, the race stood as a golden opportunity for Norris to significantly narrow the point margin between himself and the reigning world champion, although he managed to amass just a modest eight points advantage over his rival.
Norris, a potential challenger to Red Bull’s Verstappen, was denied entry by McLaren, who allowed Piastri to take the lead at Monza, despite Norris’s previous appearance as the only realistic challenger.
McLaren was repeatedly questioned afterwards about why they had not imposed team instructions to support Norris and why they had not adjusted the order of their drivers at the end to optimize Norris’ potential points advantage against Verstappen.
McLaren now trail Red Bull by only eight points
Stella admitted that given that he believed the squad was truly in a fight with Verstappen and Red Bull for both championships, he would consider totally supporting Norris for the final eight rounds.
He said “It looks a little brutal if you ask a driver who is going to win a race he gained on track that you have to swap positions but we will review all these things for the next races, If we come to the conclusion together that swapping is the right thing to do then we will do it.”
McLaren has accepted a real shot at the drivers’ championship, trailing Red Bull by only eight points in the constructors’ championship. This is the first time this season that McLaren has acknowledged their potential, despite Norris eking into Verstappen’s lead and Red Bull’s recent performance decline.
Stella said “It now looks like the drivers’ championship is definitely a possibility, We were a little cautious before Monza, but now we can see that McLaren can compete at circuits where last year we were not competitive.”
He added “Lando is obviously in the best position from a numbers point of view. We are fighting Max Verstappen so I think if we want to give support to one driver we certainly have to pick the one who is in the best position, and Lando has been doing very well.”
Verstappen has been without a win for six races since the Spanish Grand Prix. McLaren has a significant advantage due to their quickest car on both high-downforce and low-downforce tracks. Team leader, Jens Stella, believes the team needs to capitalize on this advantage and not be limited by Red Bull’s potential for podiums.
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