Lando Norris believed a better strategy could have seen him overtake Charles Leclerc in Australia, a notion McLaren’s Andrea Stella views skeptically.
Lando Norris stated after the Australian Grand Prix that he could have overtaken Charles Leclerc with a favorable strategy. However, his McLaren F1 team principal, Andrea Stella, is doubtful about this notion.
“It’s possible. It was very, very early in the race, a race with a high degree of uncertainty regarding the behavior of the hard tires,” Stella remarked. “And indeed, we observed that some good cars did not seem fast at all because they were not performing well with the tires.”
“This was the case for [Sergio] Pérez’s Red Bull. So, I think we chose an aggressive strategy, trying to overtake Leclerc with Oscar. But Leclerc decided it was a good idea too. And they left at the same time – possibly because they were listening to our radio.”
“This also meant that Leclerc and Oscar would be going under two cars fighting each other. While Lando was in a strong position, we thought it was an unnecessary risk.”
The Italian is convinced that Ferrari has a performance advantage, but he expects differences in Japan: “Leclerc finished ahead of Lando because they currently have a faster car. The good news is that this faster car is not much faster.”
“We were very close, which is encouraging for Japan, where some of the characteristics that make Australia good for us take an extra step, with a higher ratio of medium and high-speed corners compared to low-speed ones.”
Stella Questions Norris’s Overtake Strategy. Stella Questions Norris’s Overtake Strategy
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