Lando Norris finished seventh in Belgium on Sunday having started 13th, which on paper looked a good recovery for the McLaren man. But given he found himself in the lead of the race at one point, it certainly seemed like more might have been possible.
Team Principal Andrea Stella admitted afterwards that the team did not quite get it right on the reigning World Champion’s strategy, although he was also quick to point out that hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Norris had qualified third on Saturday, showing that around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the McLaren had decent pace. That became a P13 start thanks to a 10-place grid drop for taking on new power unit components, and from there the team opted to start him on the hard compound tyre.
His latent pace combined with a long first stint carried Norris up through the field and into the lead, but when others made their pit stops and benefitted from a Virtual Safety Car period, McLaren kept Norris out – and that decision that, in hindsight, proved crucial.
“At the time we were a little concerned of such a long stint on the medium tyres, and we thought that the pace would be good enough that in case of another Safety Car or Virtual then Lando would have been in a strong position,” Stella explained post-race.
“With perfect hindsight and having seen the pace of Lando on the medium, and the fact that unlike the first stint the medium tyre [seemed] to be holding on relatively well, I think we should have given it a go. Lando ultimately lost some time being overtaken while staying out and there was no further Safety Car.”
Norris dropped back behind the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar after his late stop, and ran out of laps to catch the Frenchman. That left him with a P7 finish, two places behind his team mate.
“It was very much a 50-50. We wanted to avoid Lando [losing] time of the double stack at the pit stop because he was a second car,” added Stella. “So, we opted for the staying out but like I said, it was a 50-50 and ultimately, in hindsight, it was probably better to pit.”
While they might not have nailed their strategy calls, it was encouraging to see the pace Norris had with a fresher PU on board, especially over one lap. McLaren have found themselves as the fourth fastest car at recent events, but Stella believes without the grid penalty Norris would have been fighting for P2.
“I think the car had the pace in Qualifying and based on what we saw today it had the pace in the race to contend for podiums,” he said. “At the same time, I think the car adapted well to Belgium.
“We are at the moment susceptible to the track conditions, the level of grip and our objective is to make sure that we are independent of this variability, and we can compete because the car is strong enough to do it in every condition.”
Norris was not the only McLaren driver left a little frustrated at the end of the Belgian Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri also having a tough race. He was right in the mix with the two Ferraris early on, but had some contact with Charles Leclerc when lining up an overtake at the end of the Kemmel Straight.
The stewards opted to take no further action, deciding that Piastri was not far enough alongside the Ferrari to complete the move and thus was not entitled to space.
But despite Piastri carrying damage to the edge of his floor, Stella still believes there are positives for the Australian to take – especially considering he was running an older PU than his team mate.
“Oscar’s race was affected by this damage, it was from an upturn point of view between two and three tenths of a second based on the downforce that was lost,” Stella explained.
“I think the main way in which this manifested itself, this damage, was actually the fact that he needed to use the tyres more than the competitors to stay with them in the first part of the stint and then he had very high degradation in the second part of the stints.
“But apart from that, I think Oscar has actually learned quite a bit through the weekend, like in Qualifying, in Q3, he was on the same pace as Lando, if [it] wasn’t for the time loss for the power unit, and I think today, without the damage he would have been there.”
