With Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris so carefully matched race to race, McLaren staff principal Andrea Stella is concentrated on guaranteeing his staff offers each his drivers with the means to settle this yr’s drivers’ championship battle by superior execution of the finer factors of every race weekend.
Piastri received the Belgian Grand Prix by overtaking Norris on the race begin, capitalizing on a slight spell of wheelspin from his teammate to slipstream previous on the Kemmel Straight. With Norris having received the earlier race at Silverstone when Piastri picked up a penalty behind the security automotive, Stella says the margins that can divide the 2 on the finish of the season will come right down to the best of particulars.
“There’s very, little or no between our two drivers,” Stella stated. “And it is because the 2 drivers are racing at a really, very excessive degree. We’re fortunate at McLaren to have two drivers that, deservedly, are preventing for the world championship.
“I believe the distinction will probably be made by the accuracy, the precision, the standard of the execution. We noticed in Silverstone {that a} sporting subject for Oscar – throughout the security automotive restart and the resultant penalty – price him the race. And [at Spa] we noticed that, in some way associated to the circuit attribute, it will have at all times been very tough for Lando to maintain the place, beginning first on the security automotive restart. On the identical time, I believe Lando did not assist himself by not having an amazing hole on the end line.
“So I believe the execution is what will make the principle distinction. We, as a staff, we are going to try to guarantee that, from a reliability standpoint, from a staff operation standpoint, we’re nearly as good as doable, such that it will likely be the drivers deciding their very own final result when it comes to competing for the drivers’ world championship.”
Whereas a variety of post-race focus was on Norris’ begin and small errors made in his pursuit of Piastri, Stella says the usual of efficiency from the Australian at Spa wants acknowledging too.
“Very, very, very top quality,” he stated. “Like I stated earlier than, we’ve got two drivers which, to the requirements that even myself in my profession have been near [and racing] with a number of world champions, I believe Lando and Oscar are working at that degree.
“Oscar, if something, the one [issue] he had was in qualifying, the place his laps weren’t excellent. On the identical time, we’ve got to say that after the Dash, he stated, ‘Yeah, I am pole place after the Dash quali, however possibly that is not the fitting place to be in pole place;. And as a joke, after the qualifying, he stated, ‘That was not my greatest lap in Q3, however maybe that is the most effective place to not have the most effective lap in Q3.’
“Oscar, even in the long term on medium tires, I believe he was capable of management the degradation, and actually I believe he scored his greatest lap, if I am not unsuitable, on the second [to] final. That means that he was in the end controlling his mirrors and the time to Lando.
“So, total hats off to Oscar, nice drive by Lando as nicely, and our reward was a P1, P2 for McLaren – which at Spa is especially essential, as a result of this can be a circuit the place we struggled within the earlier years. And it has a specific which means, I believe, from a efficiency and a technical standpoint, that we’re acting at this degree in a circuit with these traits. So nicely finished to all the staff.”
