Lando Norris appeared visibly disappointed when he spoke to the media after the Monza race. Despite starting from pole position, he only managed to finish third, missing out on the chance to gain valuable points against a struggling Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull didn’t perform well on the track.
McLaren is clearly licking its wounds, as dominating the front row and still walking away without a victory in the Italian Grand Prix is hard to swallow. It feels like an opportunity was wasted, with the team unable to fully capitalize on its potential. A detailed analysis will be needed to determine what the team could have done differently, especially as they battled with understeer that had already affected Ferrari’s balance during Saturday’s qualifying.
Things started going wrong from the very first lap, when Norris was overtaken by his teammate at the Roggia chicane in a decisive, albeit tough, move on the outside, which altered the race dynamics.
Lando Norris wasn’t particularly pleased with the overtaking move, believing it could have jeopardized the team’s result: “I’m not sure what I should have done differently in that situation. If I had braked a meter later, we probably would have crashed, so it’s something to consider. But overall, Ferrari had a better race today, especially Charles. He did an excellent job. So hats off to them,” Lando Norris remarked after the race, acknowledging Ferrari’s solid performance, which allowed them to outmaneuver McLaren with a single-stop strategy.
McLaren was the team pushing for a two-stop race, while Ferrari, once they realized they could secure third and fourth places, opted for the pre-race plan of a single stop, which was executed flawlessly by an exceptional Charles Leclerc.
However, according to Lando Norris, a single-stop strategy was never feasible for McLaren, as they struggled significantly with graining on the front left tire. McLaren might have anticipated a race that would be tougher on the rear tires, but the balance ultimately impacted the front more than the rear: “We considered a single-stop strategy for the entire race, but it just wasn’t possible with the amount of graining I was experiencing. So yes, it was a tough race,” Lando Norris added, mentioning how trailing behind Piastri in dirty air affected his performance, as he paid the price for not racing in clean air.
“We knew it would be a close race, but with our car and some limitations we have, it just wasn’t possible today. So we knew, we knew it could be an issue. We’re disappointed, obviously, but Ferrari did a better job, they had a better car today, and hats off to them.” – the British driver pointed out – “If there’s anyone I’d rather have win, it’s the Ferrari around Monza.” – the McLaren driver concluded at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.
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