By: McLaren’s start to the season, aside from being particularly difficult compared with Ferrari, was also hugely frustrating. Having the best power unit on the grid under the bonnet and not even managing a podium was not easy to accept. Especially as, on the other side, the engine supplier had failed to provide some information. It was no coincidence that the Stuttgart-based company subsequently accommodated the papaya team’s request to spend time with its engine engineers in order to learn how to extract the maximum from the power unit.
Nevertheless, the team rolled up its sleeves and began to show significant progress from the stages following the April break. Norris secured podiums in Miami and Barcelona, before taking two deserved victories in the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix.
Ferrari almost in check, then the negative turning point
The results greatly motivated the team, but in the most recent Grands Prix the drivers have played their part in undoing all that work. Up until the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, McLaren appeared to be in hunting mode, with its sights set on Ferrari’s second place.
Then the rounds in Azerbaijan and Bahrain turned everything upside down. The Woking team went from predator to prey. Red Bull is also improving significantly, with the Verstappen-Hadjar pairing making no mistakes… Norris and Piastri, meanwhile, look as though they are already on holiday. In Azerbaijan, Oscar made an error a few laps from the end, throwing away an excellent podium, while Norris stalled behind the Safety Car in Malaysia, losing the opportunity to support Piastri in a potential battle against Ferrari.
Norris and Piastri can no longer afford mistakes
With seven races remaining, the Prancing Horse appears almost firmly established in second position, 89 points ahead of McLaren, while the Woking outfit, largely due to its drivers’ mistakes, has been targeted by Red Bull, which now has only an 18-point deficit to recover.
The end of the season could look very different now without Piastri’s mistake in Baku and, of course, Norris’s accident with the two Alpines. There has nevertheless been an overall improvement from Oscar over the past two Grands Prix, in contrast to a decidedly difficult spell for Norris, who has been battling in the lower reaches of the top 10 in both Baku and Kuala Lumpur.
McLaren is doing a great job, but to protect third position it absolutely must rediscover its drivers. It is a little too early to start thinking about holidays.
Cover and internal photos by Peter Kiss / WHYOUT Images
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