McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently claimed his side are still getting to grips with the fact that they are a race-winning constructor now. Therefore, the American doesn’t want to deal with lost opportunities in a harsh way, as he feels the team is still learning with each passing day.
Former Aston Martin head of strategy Bernie Collins, who started her career as a trainee with McLaren, does not buy into Brown’s philosophy, though. When Autosport’s James Allen asked her about the same, Collins replied, “Not really“.
According to her, irrespective of the positions a team is fighting for, the pressure on the pit wall remains the same. She then went on to say that at the end of the day, however, there are aspects that the team needs to get used to.
Collins explained that teams fighting in the midfield get accustomed to how their rivals react and behave in terms of strategy. But as teams move up the grid, their competition changes, and so does the way their rivals behave on the pit wall.
Let’s see how it pans out but McLaren could have avoided the situation by stopping both drivers earlier. The order would have been retained and the tyres should have easily made the end of the race. This way at least one driver will be very unhappy at the end. #HungarianGP #f1
— Bernie Collins (@bernie_collins1) July 21, 2024
Speaking to James Allen for Autosport, Collins said, “I feel like McLaren…I feel like strategy in the midfield is as tough as strategy at the front. Some would agree, some would disagree but you are still fighting for every point.”
Despite a few decisions on the pit wall that have cost McLaren potential race wins, Collins is still of the opinion that the team’s strategists are on the same level as their Red Bull and Mercedes counterparts. It is just about getting their act together as a team.
McLaren needs to sort out their “trust” issues if they want to consistently win
McLaren arguably have the fastest car on the grid now in the shape of the MCL38. That being said, their results on track have not been a faithful representation of their ultimate pace. Blunders, on the track and on the pit wall, have cost them potential wins in the past.
“I think that’s part of the issue with McLaren. When you’re asking a driver continuously what tyre he wants, you slow down the decision process naturally”
Former #F1 strategist Bernie Collins urges McLaren to review its processes ⤵️https://t.co/R3eoVQ47z1
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) August 13, 2024
Collins believes that the team needs to fine-tune its approach in terms of strategy. She believes that the team needs to give the freedom to their strategists to try out the best possible strategy. Moreover, she also believes that the pit wall needs to stop relying too much on their drivers for every call that they make.
“I think that’s part of the issue with McLaren. When you’re asking a driver continuously what tire he wants, you slow down the decision process naturally,” she concluded.
