Oscar Piastri of Australia, driving the McLaren MCL38, made a pit stop during the Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia on 24.03.2024. On race day, McLaren has provided an explanation for their decision to pit Piastri before Lando Norris in an attempt to get him ahead of Charles Leclerc.
At the time of the pit stop, Norris was in second place on the track, two positions ahead of his teammate. McLaren made the strategic choice to service Piastri first at the end of Lap 9, allowing him the opportunity to undercut Norris. Four laps later, Norris made his first pit stop, but Piastri’s earlier stop allowed him to close the gap quickly.
Although McLaren could have used team orders to move Norris ahead, the British driver argued that there were missed opportunities to beat Leclerc’s Ferrari and secure second place. Stella, a representative from McLaren, clarified that the team had decided to stop Piastri first, deviating from their usual protocol, in order to get both of their cars ahead of the Ferrari. However, Ferrari seemed to have listened to McLaren’s radio communication and brought in their driver at the same time.
Norris mentioned that McLaren would need to review whether they could have used the undercut strategy on Leclerc during the second round of pit stops. Stella, on the other hand, defended the strategists from criticism, explaining that McLaren had chosen to delay Norris’ stops in order to maintain an advantage towards the end of the race. He also mentioned that the early stage of the race posed uncertainties about how the Hard tires would perform, as they had not been extensively tested during training.
“We didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks with Lando. In a race with significant tire wear, you usually regain positions towards the end,” Stella added. “The main reason we didn’t succeed was because the Ferrari was faster today, although the difference wasn’t significant.”
Last season, McLaren had used team orders to allow the faster Norris to pass Piastri on three occasions during the Hungarian, Italian, and Japanese Grands Prix. Stella had previously stated that McLaren would avoid intervening whenever possible, following their successful double podium finish in Suzuka.
Norris maintained that he would have overtaken Piastri on the track regardless, while Piastri himself accepted that the team’s decision was made in the best interest of their overall result.