In a nutshell
McLaren says it has no major concerns about the title race. Team principal Andrea Stella believes Lando Norris had the speed to win in Austin. The problem was losing position at Turn 1 to Charles Leclerc.
What happened in Austin
Max Verstappen won the United States Grand Prix by almost eight seconds ahead of Norris. After that race, Verstappen is 40 points behind leader Oscar Piastri. Norris is 14 points off Piastri.
Stella stressed that the McLaren's underlying speed was encouraging. Without the battle with Leclerc at the start, he argued, Norris would have had a real chance of victory.
Norris on his race and qualifying
Norris was more nuanced. He found it difficult to get close to Leclerc. As a result, it proved difficult to then really attack Verstappen. According to Norris, part of the problem was in qualifying. He missed a perfect lap and he regretted that.
On strategy, Norris said the team did a good job. He stated that there were options, such as coming in earlier or trying to undercut. But on the soft tyres there are also risks, such as a safety car.
Sprint, set-up and lost data
McLaren lost valuable track data due to an incident in the sprint. Both cars were involved in a collision at Turn 1. This allowed the team to be less aggressive with tuning, such as driving heights. One or two millimetres can make a noticeable difference.
Stella said there was additional pace in the car that they did not fully utilise. He said this will not affect the planned upgrades. The development line remains the same for the rest of the season.
Key points
- McLaren believes the car was fast enough to win.
- Losing position to Leclerc at Turn 1 changed the race.
- Data loss in the sprint limited risky adjustment choices.
- McLaren remains confident of championship chances.
Looking ahead
Stella stressed that the title is still in his own hands. He called for calm and focus. McLaren wants to perform to the maximum and take every opportunity in the remaining races.
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