Despite being arguably the fastest team on the grid, McLaren has missed out on several chances to win races in the 2024 season. Whether it’s Lando Norris making mistakes or McLaren’s own strategy goof-ups, the British team has shown incompetency when put in race-winning situations and this has led to immense criticism. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri, however, gives critics a stark reminder of the team’s ambitions just a year ago.
Ahead of the Hungarian GP weekend, Piastri said,
“We are inexperienced compared to our competitors. The fact we are even having these opportunities in the first place, our memory is not that short. It was only 12 months ago that finishing P3 and P4 would be an incredible result for us“.
Piastri points out a fact that has gone under the radar following McLaren’s incredible development over the last few months. At the start of 2023, the team was one of the slowest, struggling to get into the points. But they made a miraculous recovery to go right to the front of the grid, and are now almost always in contention for race wins.
Oscar Piastri, a un anno e mezzo dall’esordio in Formula 1, è stanco di aspettare il suo momento e vuole vincere il primo GP
— FormulaPassion.it (@FormulaPassion) July 16, 2024
However, it has been a while since McLaren found itself in a position to win races regularly. Their inexperience, which Piastri pointed out, proved costly at the last race in Silverstone for both him and Norris.
McLaren lost out on two opportunities to win at Silverstone
Norris and Piastri had the opportunity to win the British GP, but mistakes made by McLaren resulted in a P3 and P4 finish for the duo.
Both drivers pitted at the wrong time, and the papaya outfit’s strategists decided on tires that were not the best on a track where conditions were changing rapidly. Norris, who was at one point in the lead of the race, found himself in huge danger of slipping out of the top three.
Oscar Piastri about Silverstone during Press Conference:
“Before the rain, we weren’t the fastest, then we made some mistakes.
It isn’t an excuse but we’re fighting with teams that are used to fight in front, we’re learning from our mistakes.” pic.twitter.com/rN2cl4bkSf
— McLaren News | (@McLarenF1_News) July 18, 2024
After his final stop, Norris was stuck behind Lewis Hamilton, who was blisteringly quick, thanks to Mercedes’ choice of putting in fresh soft tires. But that wasn’t the Bristol-born driver’s biggest issue as Max Verstappen was right behind him in the closing stages. The Red Bull driver passed him without breaking a sweat to finish P2, and Norris had to settle for the third step of the podium.
It was down to tire strategy, as Norris being on his medium tires couldn’t push to the limits as much as Verstappen on his hards could.
In this way, both Mercedes and Red Bull showcased their race-winning experience by making the right decisions at the right time. On the other hand, for McLaren, they missed out on another golden opportunity to win a race.
