Leading up to the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, Lando Norris showcased an impressive performance in the McLaren during the Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying. He secured first place in both SQ1 and SQ2, and although he dropped to ninth in SQ3, his pace remained strong. In fact, his time in SQ2 on medium tires was even faster than Max Verstappen’s pole time in a Red Bull on soft tires. With Verstappen struggling with the balance of his RB20, it seemed like an easy win for Norris and McLaren. However, things took a turn for the worse.
Norris admitted that he made mistakes and pushed too hard, leading to a disappointing outcome. His lap was messy, with errors at Turn 1 and a compromised entry onto the back straight. Despite being the fastest in the final sector, he had already lost 0.7 seconds by the middle sector. While Norris took full responsibility for his performance, there were contributing factors at play.
One factor was the overheating of the soft tires. Verstappen had already experienced this issue in FP1, needing multiple cool-down laps to bring the temperatures back under control. Norris faced a similar problem during his Q3 lap, with the rear wheels spinning up easily and potentially being too hot. Once the tires exceed a critical temperature threshold, they cannot be brought back to optimal performance during a qualifying session. Norris had not used the soft tires until his SQ3 out-lap, and the track temperature was over 45 degrees Celsius. This lack of experience with the tires and the high temperature may have caught McLaren off guard.
Comparing Norris’ out-lap to Verstappen’s reveals a significant difference in approach. Verstappen’s engineer closely monitored the tire temperatures during the out-lap, ensuring they stayed within the target range. Verstappen’s out-lap was 11 seconds slower than Norris’, emphasizing the level of caution taken to prepare the tires. McLaren’s focus on testing the correlation of their upgrades during FP1 may have contributed to their oversight in tire preparation for SQ3.
Despite the disappointment, the upgraded McLaren showed great potential. Norris’ time in SQ2 on medium tires was faster than Sergio Perez’s Red Bull by 0.268 seconds. Considering Verstappen’s average qualifying advantage over Perez this season, the new McLaren could have been a strong contender against Verstappen if everything had gone smoothly.
Looking ahead to the rest of the weekend, McLaren now has a better understanding of how to handle the soft tires in qualifying. However, the soft tires are unlikely to be a popular choice for race day. A one-stop race using a combination of medium and hard tires is expected, and unless Red Bull improves their setup for Verstappen, the McLaren could potentially be faster on the medium tires. The competition is still open, and McLaren has a chance to make a comeback.