McLaren F1 News: Lando Norris Battled Against Team Strategy In Japan - 'Lost Significant Race Time'

Saajan Jogia | Apr 9, 2024

Nov 15, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; McLaren F1 Team driver Lando Norris of Great Britain during / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

McLaren could have gone entirely wrong with regard to Lando Norris's pit strategy during the Japanese Grand Prix, which caused him to lose positions to both Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc despite starting P3.

Key Takeaways:

• McLaren's pit strategy for Lando Norris in the Japanese Grand Prix may have misfired, resulting in him losing positions to Ferrari drivers despite starting well.
• Sky Sports F1's Bernie Collins suggests Norris lost ground due to McLaren's pit timing, as Leclerc's advantage made it hard for Norris to recover.
• Both Collins and Norris hint at McLaren pitting too early, a topic to be discussed post-race within the team.

An analysis by Sky Sports F1's Bernie Collins has suggested that Norris lost the position to Leclerc when McLaren decided to pit him in the same lap. However, with Leclerc's SF-24 holding an advantage over McLaren's MCL38, it proved impossible for the British driver to catch the Ferrari ahead, which was adhering to a one-stop strategy in the race.

It isn't the number of pit stops but, their timing that is being questioned by Collins, who feels that the Papaya outfit could've pitted Norris much later. The 24-year-old driver also echoed similar sentiments to the media, indicating that the team may have pitted him too early. He mentioned that this challenge would be addressed within the team during the post-weekend debriefing.

McLaren driver Lando Norris, right, speaks to Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen after the / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

Revealing her analysis of McLaren's strategy and the the exact problem that came in the way of Norris, Collins stated:

“Lando was very honest in thinking they stopped too early.

“He’s got to feel disappointed to lose to Charles who was significantly further back.

“[Andrea] Stella said two stops didn’t make a difference. I think that’s correct. But what did make the difference was Lando stopped four laps earlier than Sainz on the first stop, then 10 laps earlier on the second stop.

“In a race where we’re talking about significant deg, to do 10 extra laps on the final set is a big disadvantage in terms of total race time. It would have lost significant race time.

“A lot of the 10 seconds would have been lost through suboptimal pit stops. They will have to look at the race that Ferrari did - when they chose to do pit stops, not covering Russell, then trying to overtake later. It was significant in terms of overall race time.”

With Collins blaming McLaren for the ill-timing of the stops, team principal Andrea Stella blamed the car's pace for causing Norris to lose position. He said:

“There were no issues. The final classification is on the pace competitiveness order.

“We tried to go for the podium by stopping early, making sure we could hold position ahead of Carlos, and attacking Perez.

“Ultimately there wasn’t enough pace in the car. That’s fair enough. It’s a reflection of our competitiveness at this stage of the season. Good work by Charles and Ferrari making a one-stop possible.

“It wasn’t possible for us. And anyhow, it wasn’t the fastest strategy. Good for Ferrari to keep the tyres for so long. But it wasn’t about one-stop or two. It was about genuine car pace.”

Andrea Stella - McLaren / McLaren Press Image