No drama, more confusion: The Mclaren pit stop controversy revisited
Todays Italian grand prix was won by Max Verstappen in dominant fashion, finishing over 19 seconds in front of the Mclaren pair. Contrary to the Dutchman, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri faced late tension in the race after a controverse pit stop desicion that shaked up the order between the championship rivals for a few laps. Did the team risk late drama, or did it only appear more dramatic than it actually was? Let´s rewind and see how it all unfolded.
picture by @artoff1
Why did Mclaren pit Piastri before Norris in the first place?
In lap 45, both Mclaren drivers were yet to stop, speculating for a late safey car. Race engineer Will Joseph asked Lando Norris if he would be happy with Piastri stopping first in order to cover off Leclerc in P4 who was catching up to the two Mclaren´s. Norris accepted that offer, but demanding that Piastri could not undercut him. In lap 46, Piastri came into the pits for a new set of soft tyres. The pitcrew did an amazing job, completing the pit stop in 1.9 seconds and sending Piastri back out in P3. Norris wasn´t that fortunate, as a slow stop in lap 47, costing him 3 seconds, saw him coming out on track behind his teammate. However, he was still comfortably in front of Ferrari´s Charles Leclerc, questioning the necessity Mclarens pitstop desicion.
Piastri plays the team game, but is left confused
In lap 48, Oscar was advised to let Norris past to ensure fairness within the team. Engineer Tom Stallard reminded the Australian of the situation in Hungary the year before where Lando Norris handed Oscar Piastri the race win after a similar situation occured. Piastri questioned that desicion, reminding that a slow pit stop is, according to intern rules, part of racing. However, in lap 49 Lando Norris found himself back in P2 after the Australian gave back the position.
Was this really drama? more like confusion
Even if the situation looked critical for a few moments, in the post race interviews both Mclaren drivers didn´t seem too bothered. After being asked about what happened in the last laps, Lando Norris answered: “No idea, but i guess every now and then we make mistakes as a team, and today was one of them”. Oscar Piastri as well didn´t add fuel to the fire, as he stated: “We were staying out for Safety Cars if there were any, but Max got back into our pit window, and the little incident at the end, but it is okay.”
To sum up, the situation summoned by Mclaren was unecessary. As already mentioned, the team already faced a similar situation in the 2024 Hungarian GP which as well sparked confusion. In the end the order was restored as advised, but outcomes like that can make a huge difference and will definitely by looked back at if the championship goes down to the wire. This incident itself cannot be considered as dramatic, since no serious unrest occured. However, the team needs to put their heads together and find a way to prevent such confusion from happening in the first place, as the consequences can quickly backfire.