Rand Norris might be in a really bad mood in Monza on a Sunday night.
Perhaps he was on lap 48 of the Italian Grand Prix. He suddenly found himself behind his teammate Oscar Piastri and made McLaren’s lead quite comfortable throughout the race.
Max Verstappen has been climbing miles down the road and has already joined his frustration, with a 3-point increase in the driver’s championship to be a 3-point loss. Until his team intervened and ordered Piastri to give up the position.
The slow pit stop, which dropped Norris behind his teammate, certainly not a driver error, but the left front seemed to be the result of a wheel that was not completely fully mounted at first. Resignation at Zandvoort was also not a driver error, but Norris could have exacerbated the pain a week ago on the second consecutive weekend, potentially losing ground on the second consecutive weekend.
However, McLaren is in a unique position and has two driver lines on the track Apilson, allowing them to correct the situation without sacrificing risks or points to the team.
“I think the pit stop situation is not only a matter of fairness, but a matter of consistency with our principles,” explained Team Principal Andrea Stella. “Even if there was a championship, the key is that the championship was run in principle and the fairness of the race at McLaren and was created with the drivers.
“The situation of replacing the driver is not only related to the pit stop, but also the fact that you want to first sequence two cars to stop the Oscars and then stop the Land.
“So we pursued team interests as capitalized as possible, and in team interests we had to go with Oscar and Rand first. But the clear intention was that this would not offer a swap of positions.
“The fact that we went first with Oscar, which was even worse by the slow pit stop with Rand led to a position exchange, and we thought it was absolutely right to get the guys to race, going back to the situation that existed ahead of the pit stop, and that’s what we did.
It wasn’t a surprise that McLaren asked to swap positions. Also, it was not a surprise to hear that the phone was being called first. It suggests that a slow pit stop was already agreed between drivers as “part of the race,” but we agree with the request.
The fact that a change in position occurred, like Hungary last year, shows how drivers bought into Stella’s culture.
“That’s something we’ll discuss,” Piastri said after the race. “We discussed it before. I think it was a fair request today. Rand was qualified first, ahead of the entire race and lost the place to his own fault.
“I said something I had to say on the radio, and when I get the second request, I’m not going to oppose the team. I think there are a lot of people who protect me.
Both drivers are pleased with the team’s approach, but things tested a bit when today’s decision became the focus of questions they got from the media. Steven Tee/Getty Images
He clearly believed that Piastri’s response, even though he felt that he was a fair exchange when viewed objectively, he clearly believed that the previously agreed approach had not followed. When asked about his comments on the radio after he called and said he wasn’t surprised, and if he was hoping he would be allowed to stay first, he replied: “I think the radio call is saying enough.
However, despite his differences with Norris, he stated his belief that this request was in line with his previous lecture and that he would never doubt that the Piastry would move aside.
“No (suspecting), because that’s what we decided as a team and that’s what we all agreed,” Norris said.
Questions about whether McLaren did the right thing can be seen as a disregard for the fact that he had acquired his previous position prior to Piastri, so there was a touch of needles in some of Norris’ answers. And because, as it unfolds, there is no doubt that it is the most sporty thing.
A stunning approach from McLaren is to try and maintain the problem as much as possible, but in doing so it opens itself up for the problem even more. For example, if a similar incident occurs involving another car between two McLarens, the swap will not begin.
Similarly, if a red flag appeared after the pit stop on the pitstry, Norris would have been very well placed to win the race in 3rd place because the pitstry was brought in first. Conventions usually decide on the lead car pit first, but that may not be beneficial.
As these examples show, any approach is always incomplete. However, both drivers claim that they are happy with the situation depending on the situation.
“If it’s within your control and no other car involved, I think it’s very easy,” Piastri said. “But if there are other cars involved, we’re not going to hand out these points to other teams because of mistakes. If there’s no car in between, it’s much easier to fix it.
“So, to answer your question, if there were more cars in between, no, at that point it would be very unhappy so we wouldn’t have replaced it.”
Norris was mostly upset by the suggestion that team points would be sacrificed to balance problems between drivers, but highlights where the remaining eight races still have to be drawn with lines that could hurt one another.
“Every situation is different, so just assuming something like that and saying that is the precedent you set, that’s pretty stupid,” Norris said. “We’re not stupid, we’re planning on a variety of things. If there were four cars between me and Oscar, of course he’s not going to let me go back to the past.
“But in situations where we weren’t racing, we can be fair, you expect to be fair as a team.
“It wasn’t my fault today. If I grabbed myself inside my box and hit all the mechanics halfway through, I don’t expect to get back in position, but today I was out of control. In the end, I don’t want to win this way by doing the same thing as Oscars, such as the position I was given.
“But we do what we think is right as a team, no matter what you say or what you think.
In Monza, it was the right call to address a trajectory balance that neither driver himself has acquired or lost. And McLaren’s attempts to give equal opportunities for both is to be praised. However, with each additional call, a layer of complexity is added, which ultimately leads to decisions that are considered to affect the outcome in some way.
The idea that misfortune balances itself over the course of the season is fantastical, but the few times when the team is committed to trying to balance itself can have more impact. In Monza, the correct call was made. But as the title race moves towards the highest pressure points, McLaren hopes not to face too many scenarios that feel the need to intervene.
