Lando Norris, McLaren, Losail International Circuit, 2023

How a rare full-throttle race helped McLaren reduce Red Bull’s usual advantage

admin October 9, 2023 0 Comments advantage, Bulls, fullthrottle, helped, McLaren, Race, Rare, red, reduce, usual

McLaren was encouraged by its performance at the Japanese Grand Prix two weeks ago, but winner Max Verstappen still had an advantage of almost 20 seconds in his Red Bull.

In Qatar, after 52 laps of full driving after the end of the initial safety car period, the closest McLaren car, Oscar Piastri, was five seconds behind the winning Verstappen, with the second McLaren MCL60 a further second behind. But while McLaren had clearly made progress in its competitiveness in recent races, there was another reason why it was able to catch much closer to Red Bull at Losail.

A few hours before the start of the race, the FIA confirmed that special rules would be introduced during the Grand Prix to protect against the possibility of tire failure. Drivers will be allowed to complete no more than 18 laps on any set of tires, meaning they will inevitably have to make at least three pit stops over the course of a 57-lap race. This was a significant change in a season in which drivers typically pitted only once or twice during the race distance.

In previous races, Red Bull’s strength consistently forced the tires to fast lap times the longer they were on them. By denying them the ability to use their tires as long as they like, a key aspect of Red Bull’s superiority has been neutralized.

The McLaren drivers were well aware that the unusual circumstances of the race had had an impact on them. “Red Bull is usually a step ahead in the race after relegation,” said Lando Norris.

“I don’t think our relegation was bad today. I feel like we can push, even at the end of the runs I didn’t feel like we suddenly had big difficulties. Maybe if we had two stops and had to put more effort into the tires, then Red Bull would just be more consistent.

“He was always a little bit better in Japan, it was just in that second part of the stint where he was consistent and we were falling a little bit. So maybe we didn’t see it today.”

Verstappen admitted McLaren’s pace was strong, particularly towards the end of the race, but said they were helped by their enforced three-stop strategy.

“They were really fast all weekend,” Verstappen said. “I think, especially after running out of fuel, it seemed like the riders were gaining more and more pace again compared to me.

“Plus, the three stops that were mandatory were not ideal for us in my opinion. Because our car has good tires. So, if you have to do longer runs because that’s the fastest thing here, that would probably be a little bit better.”

McLaren’s progress was also helped by the team making the fastest pit stop in history on four tires. Norris was stationary for just 1.8 seconds when he pitted for a second time on lap 27. It was not the fastest overall pit stop of the race, although McLaren also managed to do so when Piastri made his final pit stop on lap 43.

Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, Losail International Circuit, 2023 — Alfa Romeo’s strategy brought its best result of the season

The strategic constraints were particularly bad news for Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez, who was unable to extend his first stint on hard tires to secure a higher position in the standings. That said, he was overtaken early on by George Russell, who had to pit for repairs on the first lap, but from there he worked his way up to fourth place after four stops.

Alfa Romeo used unconventional strategic solutions to score the most points of the season so far, sharing the strategies of its drivers. Valtteri Bottas arrived at the end of the safety car, needing only two pit stops to reach the finish line.

“It was a really clean race and good strategy,” said Bottas. “Of course it was a bit strange to stop after three laps in a good position, but in the end it meant that all the remaining runs were just equal. We thought it would be the fastest way to the flag and it was, so I’m happy with that.

Had the safety car reappeared, Bottas would have been at a disadvantage, but the plan worked perfectly and he came home in eighth position. Next up was teammate Zhou Guanyu, who rose 10 places from 19th on the grid, pitting last every time and finishing the race by sprinting for five laps on soft tires.