Lando Norris started on pole for the second time in his Formula 1 career and was on course for a second Grand Prix win at the Spanish GP last week. However, a compromised start saw him lose P1 to George Russell, and then Max Verstappen.
McLaren tried to win the race for the Briton on the pit wall. This included an unconventional double-overcut strategy, which did not work out in the end. However, according to former Haas F1 boss, Guenther Steiner this plan was doomed from the very beginning given how the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya treats its tires.
Speaking on the Red Flags Podcast, Steiner said, “I found that one [the strategy] very weird. I could not see it working, you know. The tires, the degradation was pretty high. So, how should that work? And then I thought, ‘Is he trying to stay out on a one-stopper?’ but that was almost impossible. I wasn’t really sure what he was doing.”
Lando Norris doesn’t believe his MCL38 was that much faster than Verstappen’s RB20. Instead, he identifies his fresher tyres as the reason why he clawed back his deficit in the final stint.
“Even after reviewing last weekend, I don’t necessarily think we had a much quicker car… pic.twitter.com/HOjihdzEL6
— McLaren F1 News (@FormulaShambles) June 27, 2024
The Barcelona circuit is notorious for high tire wear. Naturally, an overcut – where a driver does more laps on a set of used but warmed-up tires than his rival, is not the preferred tire strategy for teams on tracks like Barcelona. Verstappen, essentially undercut the #4 driver owing to the decisions made on the McLaren pit-wall that afternoon.
The Italian engineer, however, conceded that he did not have all the data available to him. Hence, there could have been a window that the McLaren strategists may have seen, unknown to Steiner, where an overcut could have given Norris a shot at victory.
Lando Norris blames himself for Spanish GP loss instead of the unconventional McLaren strategy
Norris crossed the chequered flag in second. However, the 24-year-old did not blame his strategists for the loss. Instead, the British racing driver took the blame on himself. He criticized his own race start and how that moment orchestrated the race win going away from the Woking-based team.
The MCL38 was arguably the fastest race car on track at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Norris even gave himself a tough time that despite having the machinery competent to win, he squandered his chances trying to squeeze Verstappen onto the grass at the race start.
will: p2 as you know, fastest lap.
lando: yeah it doesn’t really matter, does it. i should have won, i f*cked up the start. the car was amazing, well done. deserved more.
— ray (@ln4norris) June 23, 2024
On the other hand, McLaren’s rapid developmental progress has not rung any crisis bells for Verstappen. The Dutchman is well aware of the threat posed by them and Norris in particular. However, he did concede that Red Bull’s rivals have done a better job than them in terms of developing their cars so far.
