Critical Weakness Forces McLaren Boss to Eat Own Words to Give Lando Norris a Massive Boost

When Nico Rosberg said, “Nothing is certain until the ink is on paper,” he certainly made waves in the Formula 1 community. This statement gained renewed relevance after McLaren‘s team principal announced that the team had halted development due to critical weaknesses. This abrupt shift in strategy aimed to give Lando Norris a significant performance boost. However, despite Norris’s prediction of failure before the Monza Grand Prix, the final race results may have thrown a wrench in McLaren’s plans. This unexpected outcome forced team boss Andrea Stella to eat his own words, as the earlier declaration about halting development had to be reevaluated in light of the changing circumstances at the Italian GP.

McLaren witnessed Max Verstappen breaking their long-standing record this season. However, when the Papaya Army saw some promising results following recent upgrades, journalist Thomas Maher took to Twitter to highlight that Andrea Stella had seemingly given up. Astonishingly, Stella made an official announcement that they had completely ceased development on the MCL60. And now, their primary focus shifting toward the 2024 season.

What made Andrea Stella eat his own words?

The critical weakness that McLaren had been diligently addressing throughout the season was prominently exposed during the Italian Grand Prix. This ultimately led to a situation where Andrea Stella had to backtrack on his previous statements. At Monza, the Woking-based squad’s drivers finished in 9th and 12th positions. This aligns with Lando Norris’s earlier prediction that the MCL60 might struggle on this particular circuit.

The struggle became evident during qualifying, despite the team’s introduction of new wings, as they continued to lack top speed. This is precisely the reason behind the perception that the Italian engineer is displaying inconsistency in his words.

As indicated by @Mclarenzone, Stella has now unveiled plans for the car’s acceleration to advance in the upcoming Singapore race. The tweet read, “Deficit on top speed, something that we’re working on. Our journey will take a bit of an acceleration in Singapore where we’ll have some new parts.”

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When a team faces limitations, their drivers are expected to drive cautiously and avoid collisions. However, at Monza, both McLaren drivers collided with each other, infuriating their usually calm Team Principal Stella, who saw it as a breach of the parameters.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri face the team boss’s harsh critique for crossing the parameters

After their return to the top, McLaren’s drivers have once again faced a downturn. Despite the McL60 playing a significant role in their struggles, their personal interests led them to exceed their limits.

Yesterday, both Norris and Piastri were competing for positions. While it added excitement to the race, there was a moment when they collided. Piastri attempted to make a move at the first part of the chicane, resulting in his wheel making contact with Norris’s sidepod.

Although there were no penalties from the stewards, this incident infuriated Stella, according to the Mirror’s report. He said, “There should never ever be contact between two McLaren cars. There was contact, which doesn’t fit the way we go racing at McLaren. What is important is to have clear parameters as to what you deem acceptable and what you deem unacceptable.”

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The day in Italy didn’t go well for McLaren, but they plan to bounce back strong with further improvements in Singapore. However, observing the team’s mistakes, it becomes clear why no one has been able to catch up to Max Verstappen.