McLaren has identified pit stops as a key area for improvement, following the slow tire changes that affected Lando Norris in the last two Grand Prix.
A slow left front tire change at the Italian Grand Prix caused an awkward team orders exchange for McLaren, as Norris lost a position in the pit stops to Oscar Piastri, but then regained the position.
Norris also suffered a slow pit stop at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to a problem when placing the nut on the front right wheel, potentially costing him two positions, and four points in the championship, at the end of the race.
Definitely, in terms of pit stops, that is an area where we have already focused our efforts.
Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal
Stella added that it is necessary to continue working because there is a significant performance available through pit stops. “And we have seen that the races, in any case, are increasingly close. Therefore, the impact of a pit stop is now increasingly important.”The team is focused on improving both the execution of the stops and the hardware used to make the process easier for the team.
“Definitely, for the rest of the season and also thinking about next year’s car, there is work to be done from the point of view of pit stops, in terms of the execution of the pit stop, but also in the hardware, so that the execution of a pit stop for our team is simpler and more natural.
There are still some interactions between the operator and the hardware that should be improved from a hardware point of view.
The two McLaren drivers are separated by 25 points in a tense battle for this year’s drivers’ championship.
Stella confirmed that the problems in Monza and Baku were not related, but pointed out the need for McLaren to up its game.
“No, they were different. This [in Baku] was definitely more related to the interaction between the operator and the gun. But we know that, from a hardware perspective, we are not optimizing,” he said.
“This isn’t because we didn’t want to, it’s because you learn as you go. And we know there’s room for improvement in terms of equipment, in terms of the equipment’s hardware and on the car side, so we can make life a little easier for our pit crew.”
