McLaren: Why the long stint gamble didn't work out

(Motorsport-Total.com) - McLaren had to settle for second and third place at the Italian Grand Prix. It was already clear from the early stages that the MCL39 didn't have the pace to seriously challenge Max Verstappen at the front. So the team opted for a risky strategy with a long first stint.

"I think it was clear today that we as a team didn't have the pace to keep up with Max," explains Oscar Piastri, who finished the race in third place. "I struggled with balance in the first half of the race. After that, it got better as the medium tire aged. But in the end, we simply didn't have the pace – and we didn't get the job done yesterday in qualifying."

Even the extended stint on the medium tires didn't help build decisive pressure. "Certainly not with Max. Maybe with Lando, but even there the balance just wasn't at a good point," said Piastri.

Stella: Tire poker with a limited budget

The strategy was clear: After Verstappen's stop on lap 37, both McLarens briefly took the lead. However, Red Bull was taking a risk – a safety car or even a red flag immediately afterward would likely have given Lando Norris the win. But the race continued without interruption.

Andrea Stella had to admit that Red Bull was simply faster: "Yesterday in qualifying, he was one or two tenths ahead of us, and today even a little more. We also didn't have the wear and tear advantage we had on other tracks."

The team boss explains the difference between Norris and Piastri with the way they handle their tires: "It depends on how hard you stress your tires. Lando was faster at the beginning because he used the tires more, but he paid for it in the end. Oscar was more consistent in the end. You can think of it like a limited budget: depending on when you use it, you end up having advantages or disadvantages."

Red Bull impresses with efficiency

What particularly struck Stella was the Red Bull's efficiency. "We didn't expect to see such a big gap. But Red Bull is extremely efficient with small rear wings. We're not designing our car around that—we have to learn from that. We want to be competitive on all tracks, not just certain ones."

Despite the defeat, the record remains solid. McLaren celebrated a strong team result with second and third place. "A P2-P3 is still a very solid result on a track that we knew wasn't necessarily suited to our car. Congratulations to Max and Red Bull," said Stella.

Question marks remain for the upcoming races, however. Baku boasts a track with long straights, tight corners, and low tire wear—a layout quite similar to that of Monza. Singapore follows shortly after, where fast corners are lacking and tire wear is also traditionally low. For McLaren, the dominance of recent weeks could therefore crumble for the time being.

A detailed analysis of the McLaren strategy can be found on the Formel1.de YouTube channel , where data expert Kevin Hermann also questions whether McLaren overestimated the undercut danger of Charles Leclerc, which ultimately led to the pit stop chaos.