McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown left no doubt about his satisfaction with Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. “In case anyone didn’t notice,” he said, “that was a good race!” Team principal Andrea Stella echoed Brown’s sentiments, praising the performance of both drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The battle for victory between the two McLaren drivers had McLaren’s strategy on the line. Norris’ fifth win of the season hinged on an unexpected one-stop strategy, while Piastri was disadvantaged despite taking a two-stop approach. “We did speak about it a bit before the race,” Piastri said, “but very difficult to know from the cockpit what is going to be the best thing to do.”
Piastri’s second pit stop meant he had fallen behind Norris on track, but his 14-lap-younger tires allowed him to close a gap of over 10 seconds in just 20 laps. The two drivers engaged in a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle in the final three laps.
Stella praised both drivers for their fair and sporting approach to the race. “You know, when you have two great drivers, like Lando and Oscar, who race for victory in a Formula 1 grand prix… it’s always going to be very close.” The team remains committed to letting its drivers race, and Stella believes that this philosophy will see them through to the end of the season.
With 10 races remaining, McLaren faces stiff competition from other teams. However, Brown and Stella are confident in their strategy, citing the importance of giving their drivers the opportunity to showcase their talent. “We want to provide great racing for Formula 1,” Stella said.
Source: https://www.espn.com/racing/f1/story/_/id/45893386/how-mclaren-split-strategies-helped-lando-norris-upset-oscar-piastri-hungarian-grand-prix