F1 News: McLaren To Hold Discussions With Drivers After 'Costly' Error

Saajan Jogia | Jul 31, 2024

Jun 8, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; McLaren driver Oscar Piastri (AUS) races during FP3 practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports / David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed that the team will work with its drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after their pitstop errors during the British GP and Belgian GP, which proved to be 'costly'.

McLaren might have secured additional victories this season if not for critical errors from both drivers that led to significant time losses during pit stops. At Silverstone, Norris suffered from a failed pit strategy and overshot his pit box, allowing Lewis Hamilton to take the lead and ultimately win the race.

Similarly, Piastri overshot the pit box during the race at Spa-Francorchamps on lap 31 and hit his jackman, which ended up being a 4.4-second pit stop. If not for the pit error, the Australian driver could have caught up with Hamilton's Mercedes much earlier in the race and challenged for a win.

Given the pace of McLaren's MCL38, Stella hinted that an overtake on Hamilton could have been achieved if the pit stop was quick enough. Unfortunately, the Papaya car caught up in the last lap and crossed the finish line behind the Mercedes.

Explaining that there's work to be done with the drivers about overcooking at the pit stop, Stella told the media:

“Oscar said immediately in the in-lap on the radio, ‘apologies for the pit stop’.

“I think he realised that that would have been a bit costly, because potentially he would have just queued behind Hamilton but he could also have been in condition to attack.

“So I think this one-and-a-half, two-second loss at the pit stop ultimately proved to be relatively costly, and even because then he would have been behind Leclerc earlier with fresher tyres, which means he could have finalised the overtaking more easily.

“We do have to work with drivers in terms of, like even in the hot moments, just don’t overcook it at the pit stop position, because it can be very costly. I think we had something similar in Silverstone as well.”

However, despite the niggles, Stella is happy with the team's progress and consistency. The team has managed to open up a 42-point gap to Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship, a testament to their solid performance. He added:

“With the little issue with Lando, Lap 1, the little issue at the pit stop, the reality is that nobody has a perfect event, it’s just impossible.

“I think we are actually quite satisfied with the level of consistency and robustness we have as a team, the only team where the drivers have scored points at every single event, mega reliability so far.

“I’ve lost count of how many points in a row, maybe 10, 10 podiums in a row. So many opportunities to do better but the big picture is of a very strong and consistent team, and this should be remarked.

“In the way the race unfolded I think it’s still important that we gain points on Red Bull, because if you had told me before the race that you’re going to gain points on Red Bull, I’m not so sure because I was expecting Verstappen to come through, and if you see last year’s race Perez finished something like 10 seconds, 15 seconds from Verstappen for a one-two.

“So we gained eight points, 43 [42] now behind. I take the positives, and we keep working on the opportunities.”