Oscar Piastri from Australia drove the McLaren MCL38 in the Formula 1 World Championship race at the Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia on March 24, 2024. According to McLaren Formula 1 boss Andrea Stella, the team’s advantage over Mercedes in the race may not accurately represent their true performance due to the fragile nature of the tires. Taking advantage of Max Verstappen’s brake failure, McLaren secured their first podium finish at Albert Park since 2014, with Lando Norris taking third place and Oscar Piastri following closely behind. On the other hand, Mercedes had a disastrous weekend, with both drivers retiring and leaving the team 29 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ standings, placing them in fourth position. Although George Russell was approximately 40 seconds behind Norris when he crashed on the final lap, Stella argues that this does not accurately reflect the pace of McLaren and Mercedes. Stella suggests that McLaren and Ferrari could have been competitive with Verstappen, but the significant gap between these teams and the rest, including Aston and Mercedes, surprises him. Stella believes that the race was dominated by tire performance, as the degradation of the tires played a crucial role. Therefore, the difference in lap times between cars could be attributed to the ability to manage tire degradation, rather than the inherent performance of the McLaren and Mercedes cars. Stella attributes this unique tire behavior in Australia as the reason for this anomaly.
Piastri expressed surprise that Sergio Perez did not catch him, but Red Bull disclosed that his car experienced “significant load loss” due to a tear-off stuck under the floor.
Despite this, Red Bull faced difficulties during practice due to graining caused by Pirelli’s decision to use the Softest compounds in Melbourne, resulting in a two-stop race.
Stella highlights that Red Bull’s ability to manage degradation allowed them to use two sets of Softs in Bahrain, indicating that tire behavior affects the fluctuating order.
When asked why Red Bull struggled more with graining compared to other teams despite having the most downforce, Stella responded, “If you know someone who can explain these situations clearly, I would hire them immediately.”
He further explains, “In Bahrain, Red Bull was the only car that could comfortably use the Soft tires. However, there was no graining in Bahrain because there was not enough grip to stress the tires and cause rubber to generate graining. This is a completely different situation compared to here.”
He continues, “Understanding and addressing this matter from an engineering perspective is not straightforward at all. Otherwise, everyone would be performing well. It’s really difficult.”
Stella also mentions that during Verstappen’s long run in P3, the tires deteriorated quickly, indicating that Red Bull did not have an advantage in terms of tire handling on a track with soft and graining-prone tires.
He concludes, “It’s possible that even in a similar track, things may behave differently. This is one of the non-linear problems where a slight change in conditions can lead to a dramatic change in the solution. This is typically what happens with tires.”