Why McLaren may have fixed big problem too late in Max Verstappen title fight

Lando Norris, McLaren, Netherlands, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

GPFans Opinion

Why McLaren may have fixed big problem TOO LATE in Verstappen title fight

The team has left itself in a weaker position than it needed to

Daniel Austin

Monday 9 September 2024 12:57

Where once Europe dominated the Formula 1 calendar, the continent now represents little more than a summer sojourn in the middle of a relentlessly full-throttle tour around the world.

Only nine of this year’s 24 F1 grands prix are European races, and all of them have already been run with eight events still left to go before the end of the season.

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Bar a brief stopover in North America to race in Montreal, the European portion of the campaign began in Imola in mid-May and culminated in a second race in northern Italy at Monza just over a week ago.

In that time, Red Bull and Max Verstappen have gone from certain title winners to languishing in the upper midfield, their RB20 car struck by a myriad of problems caused by projected upgrades inadvertently dampening its pace.

In the meantime, McLaren have become the fastest team on the grid, consistently quicker than their rivals in qualifying and narrowing the gap to the current title holders in the standings. A genuine title race seemed a complete impossibility in Imola, but had become a cast-iron reality by the time the teams arrived at Monza.

McLaren did not perform as well as they should have done in Europe

How have McLaren not narrowed the gap to Verstappen further?

Given the stupefying changes in performance the teams at the front of the field have undergone, McLaren should have comprehensively outstripped Red Bull during the run of European races, reeling them in and rendering the gap in both title races negligible.

But the Woking-based squad hasn’t quite managed it across both championships. Sure, they are now a mere eight points behind in the constructors’ race, and will almost certainly win that by season’s end unless Red Bull engineer a turnaround in their car’s performance that would border on miraculous.

In the drivers’ standings, though, Lando Norris remains 62 points behind Verstappen despite boasting the faster car throughout the European run. In fact, Verstappen actually managed to outscore Norris in Europe by 142 points to 140, despite the evident deficit in performance between the Dutchman’s car and the Brit’s.

Norris, of course, made some significant errors during that time. He lost the lead from pole at each of the races in Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Italy, costing him victory in all but one of those events and failing to capitalise on the pace advantage he was clearly bestowed with at a crucial point of the season.

Despite Norris’ flaws, though, the key reason that McLaren have not fully punished Red Bull’s drop off in performance is that they have poorly handled the transition from podium contention to the fastest team on the grid.

They have thus far failed to prioritise Norris’ race results over team-mate Oscar Piastri’s, instead allowing the two to continue to race one another, and even forced Norris to give up a victory in favour of Piastri in Hungary in order to cover the team’s own mistake.

Had they fully appreciated the position that their highly impressive development of their car had put them in, Norris could be in a much stronger position than he is now, left needing to beat Verstappen by an average of just under eight points per weekend to take the title.

After throwing away what seemed a certain victory at Monza, McLaren now seem to have finally recognised the problem they have created for themselves.

Andrea Stella has led huge improvements at McLaren

What do McLaren need to change?

“We need to be better at capitalising on the opportunities that Red Bull seem to offer by not being in their usual possibility of competing for podiums,” team principal Andrea Stella said after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc beat both McLarens to victory at Monza. "I hope we will be in condition to have these situations frequently in the future."

"We have now to acknowledge that not only the constructors’ championship is possible but - with the performance we have at the moment in the car, and some of the struggle we see with Red Bull - even the drivers’ is definitely possible.

"If we can achieve both, we need to put the team and Lando in position to pursue both championships. Both drivers are mathematically in condition to do so but Lando is in the best position from a numbers point of view and we are fighting Verstappen. So if we want to give support to one driver, we have to pick the one in the best position."

Belatedly, Stella and McLaren have realised what had been staring them in the face for months – the drivers’ title is on the line, and doing everything they can to help Norris is the way forward.

That it has taken this long for a team which is run by so many competent leaders as McLaren to cotton on to the fact that their best bet is to prioritise points scoring through sensible, efficient management of races is frankly bizarre. Had they taken this approach months ago, when it was already obvious to the rest of the world, then Norris may well be breathing far more heavily down Verstappen’s neck.

Even Norris himself seemed beleaguered by the time it has taken to reach this conclusion, saying after finishing third behind Piastri in second at Monza "I wouldn't say we're running out of time, but time is going away slowly, and I still believe we can do it. The best way simply is just to win the race. And I didn't do that today because of some silly things."

Eight points per weekend remains an eminently achievable margin for McLaren to overcome if Red Bull’s woes continue. They and Norris remain very much in the fight as Europe gives way to Asia, the Americas and the Middle East before the end of the campaign.

But if they end up coming short by a few months, McLaren will bemoan the fact that they left it far later than any team in their position should ever have needed to learn such a fundamental lesson.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Mercedes Formula 1 Hamilton