McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes the fact that the team is frustrated by its recent “near misses” to victory is “good news” for its progress over the coming year.
McLaren went from being a lower-tier team to catapulting themselves to the front of the series this time last season with a massive series of innovations made at the Austria Grand Prix, and they have built on this platform through normal rivals to win races with Red. Taurus this season.
Additional information via Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper
Lando Norris’s past contact with Max Verstappen in Austria followed the team’s selection to transfer him to comfortable tires rather than new media for the final period at Silverstone, with slow prevention after Norris retired from the lead after skidding on boxes. allowing Lewis Hamilton to take the lead.
Those combined points helped the Mercedes driver to his first victory since December 2021, and Norris admitted it was another race McLaren won afterwards.
Team-mate Oscar Piastri admitted he has also favoured a double-stack pit prevention strategy, with time lost in conversion situations by missing out on an extra lap that left him out of the box at Silverstone, despite finishing fourth on the road with Norris third.
But despite the drivers’ frustration, their team’s main idea had an explanation for being positive, because the mere fact that they couldn’t possibly take the win is a sign of the team’s significant progress.
With that, however, comes the “responsibility” of all team members to know how to take on experienced teams like Red Bull and Mercedes in those situations, given their recent name experience.
“Well, the near misses have to do with the news, right?We didn’t have these kinds of incidents until 12 months ago,” Stella told the media, adding PlanetF1. com at Silverstone.
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“And above all we have to look at the positive. We have to say that the team has situations where it can get frustrated because we are on the third podium position with the other driver in fourth position, and once back the team has scored more points.
“So if we don’t start from the positive of the structure, we will be the ones to build and destroy, build and destroy, and we will remain on the same level.
“So it is everyone’s duty, although Lando and Oscar do not have the duty in some of the calls that we call missed opportunities, we all – adding the drivers – have the duty to continue building, and when there are days when we have a lost opportunity, that is the most productive opportunity to continue building.
“We’re racing against groups that have won championships and championships, and they’re pretty solid in terms of other people there, like they’re even familiar with that type of racing down to the most level-headed in conversion situations, etc.
“From that point of view, I think we are more in a structure place, and we are taking advantage of those near misses, the opportunity will come soon. “
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