Why F1’s third-biggest pole gap of 2024 is being taken with a “pinch of salt”

The fight for pole position in Formula 1 recently has more often than not been a matter of ekeing out the final hundredths of a second.

Qualifying battles like Hungary, where Lando Norris edged out McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by 0.022 seconds, or Spain, where the Briton pipped Max Verstappen, are typical of the kind of gaps that we have got used to.

So as F1 returned from the summer break for the Dutch Grand Prix, the expectation was that it would be business as unusual – especially with a short Zandvoort track further compressing the order.

But things have not turned out that way and, off the back of a pretty big upgrade that McLaren has delivered this weekend, Norris proved absolutely dominant as he beat local hero Verstappen by 0.356 seconds.

The margin is far from common this year. Indeed, a scan back over the season shows it is the third biggest advantage over a single lap that any driver has had in 2024.

Top five pole position gaps this season

^{* Verstappen had a 10-place grid penalty for a power unit change so did not start from pole.}

So have we witnessed a step change in form from McLaren that could change the narrative of the campaign? Maybe…maybe not.

While there is correlation between a big upgrade coming and Norris pulling off his biggest pole gap of the year so far, his own team thinks it wrong to believe that the changes have unleashed a dramatic improvement from its car.

In fact, with McLaren being clear that its upgrades are more about delivering better aero efficiency rather than a being a massive downforce step, team principal Andrea Stella thinks the performance advantage was more about Zandvoort track characteristics.

“I think we cannot read into the gap from pole position to the second position as this being a reflection of the upgrades that we took trackside,” said Stella, reflecting on the margin shown. “The upgrades, they do not deliver this amount of performance.

“I think what we have seen is the combination of several conditions that helped our car deliver a strong performance.

“First of all, I would classify this circuit in the category of Hungary, Barcelona, in which we have long corners in the medium speed range, which do suit our car characteristics very well. We were on pole position in Barcelona and in Hungary as well.

“Then the second factor is certainly the…