Mercedes had “less to lose” in committing to the one-stop strategy call which helped George Russell win the Belgian Grand Prix, said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.
McLaren kept both their drivers on a two-stop strategy despite appearing well-placed to try a one-stop. Russell made his first pit stop on lap 11, while Lando Norris did not come in until lap 15, then made a second stop on lap 30.
Stella said the one-stop strategy was a brave call, but admitted there were two reasons why McLaren didn’t realise its potential.
“Tyre degradation was less than expected and overtaking was more difficult than expected,” he told Sky. “So this meant that the one-stop came into play.”
Norris was running behind Russell when McLaren brought him in for his second pit stop on lap 30. Stella said sticking to a one-stop strategy “took a dose of courage to do.”
“For Russell, who was behind [Piastri], it was I think less to lose and I think he had more motivation to do that and it worked. Well done to Mercedes and Russell for making this work.”
Stella added it was “difficult to recover positions during the race because of the two factors I said before. Still it’s a very positive outcome, another podium for McLaren and a strong finish of the first part of the season.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Oscar Piastri finished third on a two-stop strategy. He closed on the two Mercedes drivers at the end, and Stella admitted they thought he would have a chance to attack them.
“We were expecting that Lewis [Hamilton] could have overtaken George and then George would have been an easier target,” said Stella. “But he did such a good job of keeping the lead, despite the old tyres so it’s just a good job by George Russell.
“We are very happy with our drivers today. Oscar really gave everything, a very attacking race from Oscar himself. And Lando unfortunately the positions lost at the start, they proved to be more costly than we thought after a few laps.”
Norris was unhappy with himself after running wide at the exit of La Source on the first lap, touching the gravel and falling behind several of his rivals.
“I went off in turn one and that ruined my whole race, so that’s it,” he said.
“The dirty air cost you so much and I was always in the dirty air. The few laps I had clean, when I was behind Carlos [Sainz Jnr] at the end of the first stint when he went long, the car felt good. I think it started to come…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…