Andrea Stella Admits McLaren Got the Strategy Wrong as Lando Norris Rues a Lost Belgian Grand Prix Podium

• Lando Norris briefly led the Belgian Grand Prix from a grid-penalty start before finishing seventh, and insists his pace was good enough for a podium
• McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted the team should have pitted Norris under a Virtual Safety Car that never returned
• Oscar Piastri’s race was compromised by contact with Charles Leclerc that damaged the floor of his car

Lando Norris spent part of the Belgian Grand Prix running at the front of the field, a remarkable feat given he started the race from 13th on the grid. By the chequered flag he had slipped back to seventh, and both the reigning World Champion and his team principal agree a strategy call in the closing stages cost him a shot at the podium.

Norris had shown startling pace throughout the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, topping the timesheets in Qualifying only to be demoted by a 10-place grid penalty for fitting new power unit components. He described his own lap as one of the best he has ever produced, and it carried through into the race, where a long opening stint on hard tyres pushed him into the lead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

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A Long Stint That Nearly Paid Off

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained that his team wrestled with a genuine dilemma once a Virtual Safety Car period arrived and rival teams used it to make cheap pit stops.

“At the time we were a little concerned of such a long stint on the medium tyres, and we thought that the pace would be good enough that in case of another Safety Car or Virtual then Lando would have been in a strong position,” Stella said after the race.

McLaren chose to leave Norris out rather than switch him onto the medium compound, banking on a second caution period that never arrived. Looking back, Stella conceded the call went the wrong way.

“With perfect hindsight and having seen the pace of Lando on the medium, and the fact that unlike the first stint the medium tyre seemed to be holding on relatively well, I think we should have given it a go,” he said. “Lando ultimately lost some time being overtaken while staying out and there was no further Safety Car.”

Stella also flagged the added risk of a double-stacked pit stop, with Norris sharing his pit box with a teammate.

“It was very much a 50-50,” he said. “We wanted to avoid Lando losing time of the double stack at the pit stop because he was a second car. So, we opted for the staying out but like I said, it was a 50-50 and ultimately, in hindsight, it was probably better to pit.”

A Pit Stop That Made Things Worse

The team’s eventual stop for Norris did him no favors either. His tyre change took 7.8 seconds, a delay that dropped him behind Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. Norris spent the remainder of the race chasing the Frenchman and ran out of laps to complete the pass.

“It should have been a lot better today, honestly,” Norris said afterward. “The pace was easily good enough for a potential podium. I mean, we just had a terrible pit stop. We were unlucky with the VSCs as well.”

Norris also explained the alternative McLaren could have chosen. “We probably should’ve taken the stop under the VSC,” he said. “It would have been a long stint on the medium, but… I’m going to save more time by boxing under the VSC than I’m going to be by going five laps longer. My life was just very difficult today, but the pace was very strong, so still some positives, I guess.”

Piastri’s Race Unravels After Contact With Leclerc

Norris was not the only McLaren driver left to reflect on a missed opportunity. Oscar Piastri ran with the two Ferraris in the early stages of the race before making contact with Charles Leclerc while attempting an overtake at the end of the Kemmel Straight. Stewards took no further action, ruling that Piastri had not pulled far enough alongside the Ferrari to be entitled to space.

The clash left Piastri’s car carrying damage to the edge of its floor. Stella estimated the cost at between two and three tenths of a second per lap in lost downforce.

“Oscar’s race was affected by this damage,” Stella explained. “I think the main way in which this manifested itself, this damage, was actually the fact that he needed to use the tyres more than the competitors to stay with them in the first part of the stint and then he had very high degradation in the second part of the stints.”

Piastri, who was running an older specification power unit than his teammate for the weekend, described his own afternoon in blunt terms. “It was certainly not a straightforward race,” he said. “I felt like our pace was really good, especially at the beginning of the stints it looked strong. Obviously after the damage with Leclerc that made things definitely more difficult. I struggled a lot for the rest of that stint.”

He added that the team managed to find some of the lost pace back. “We were able to compensate a little bit for the second stint and it looked a bit better again. Our race definitely was a little bit more difficult than it needed to be from that point on.”

McLaren Looks Ahead to Hungary

Stella still found encouraging signs, pointing to the underlying pace McLaren showed across the Spa weekend.

“I think the car had the pace in Qualifying and based on what we saw today it had the pace in the race to contend for podiums,” he said. “At the same time, I think the car adapted well to Belgium. We are at the moment susceptible to the track conditions, the level of grip and our objective is to make sure that we are independent of this variability, and we can compete because the car is strong enough to do it in every condition.”

Piastri echoed the sentiment that McLaren remains within reach of the cars ahead but not yet able to convert that pace into results. “We definitely need a bit more, for sure,” he said. “We feel like we’re just that one step behind, we’re always trying to hang on to the cars ahead. It’s not the easiest position to be in, but hopefully the upgrades we can bring will help us with that.”

Norris was more cautious about carrying momentum into the next round of the season, noting the characteristics of the Hungaroring differ significantly from Spa-Francorchamps. “It’s a different track, so we definitely shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “We’re still miles off comparing to the Mercedes, still half a second off yesterday in Qualifying.”

He confirmed the team will arrive in Hungary without new parts. “We’ve not changed anything on the car either, so we’ve not brought upgrades,” Norris said. “Next weekend is the first time we’ll bring hopefully a good upgrade to the car. We’ll see if that works properly.”

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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