Max Verstappen was dominating the Imola GP ahead of both McLaren cars until a late safety car bunched the field together. The Dutchman boxed for fresh rubber, as did second-placed Lando Norris. However, Oscar Piastri didn’t and retook second place. Due to the tyre deficit, Norris would have the better chance of challenging Verstappen.
However, McLaren failed to swap their drivers, and Verstappen was able to build a gap at the restart. The McLarens were free to race, and by the time Norris passed Piastri, the four-time world champion was far up the road. The question is, should the Papaya team have issued team orders to have a chance of winning the Imola GP?
McLaren “happy” with how the race went
The safety car restart, after Kimi Antonelli pulled over to the side of the track, was McLaren’s best chance of winning the race. Verstappen was dominating the race and had a substantial gap over Norris. Piastri had to be left out at the safety car otherwise, he would have lost track position. But the Papaya outfit could have orchestrated a swap which would have left Norris on Verstappen’s gearbox, with both cars on fresh rubber.
McLaren decided not to implement the swap, which ultimately let Verstappen build a gap to Norris after he struggled to pass his teammate. The Brit was then unable to close in on the Red Bull driver. But McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the strategy was the right way to go about it.
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He said to Sky Sports: “It was definitely a thought [to swap drivers]. We want to have Oscar having his own chances at the restart. So we assumed the principle if Lando was able to pass Max he should have been able to pass Oscar pretty easily considering he was on fairly old tyres.”
“In reality, if the pace delta was enough things would have taken care of themselves. We are happy with how things unfolded. In reality, if the pace delta was enough things would have taken care of themselves. We are happy with how things unfolded.”
Norris added: “I was on better tyres, but I didn’t expect anything. It was still a tough fight. It was close into turn one. It’s the way it should be, of course. I think we handled it well, and it was a good job by the team.””
McLaren was put in a difficult dilemma. Both drivers are challenging to win the championship, and at this point, they can’t favour one. They are clear in the constructors’ championship, so they are fighting on the drivers’ front. The fairest way is to let their drivers race, even if it does cost them victories.
Has McLaren learnt from past mistakes?
Last season, McLaren made many mistakes on the pit wall, which cost them the chance of victory. Cautious strategies in Canada and Britain handed the wins to their rivals when it looked like Norris was going to come out on top. They also failed to implement team orders in Monza and Budapest, meaning Norris lost points in the fight with Verstappen for the championship.
Earlier this season in Japan, Piastri and Norris were close behind Verstappen. The latter had many chances to attempt an overtake while Piastri sat behind the pair. The Aussie claimed he had the pace to attack the Dutchman, but McLaren again failed to implement team orders. Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve says this shows McLaren is weak.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, the Canadian said: “They show weakness. Basically, they don’t show the strength that Red Bull are always showing year after year. It’s as if they’re afraid to be aggressive in trying to win the drivers’ championship and they’re afraid to go against Piastri. It’s really, really odd.”
“They seem to be happy with second and third. McLaren has a car where a good weekend means first and second. Anything less is a bit disappointing. First and third is fairly acceptable, but they seem happy with second and third.”
McLaren seems content with letting their driver race under ‘papaya rules’. This lets their drivers race hard but clean. However, this will cost them more wins. The Woking-based team might have to become more ruthless. Norris was going to pass Piastri, so why not let him do it earlier when he had the chance of challenging for the lead?
