McLaren still up front, still with a technical update related to the front wing. Piastri second fastest, Norris only 13th, because in the simulation of a fast lap with soft tyres he made a mistake in the second sector, ending up in the gravel and missing the opportunity to give a measure compared to Verstappen’s time.
Relative doubts about his speed potential
“The lap on the Softs left us with some doubts too. It’s encouraging that Oscar has put together a fairly competitive ride, even if Max is ahead by a few tenths. Then there are the Mercedes, who seemed to be the fittest in free practice 1. Much remains to be discovered, not just Lando’s lap“. Thus Andrea Stella, for a McLaren that is on the rise and aware of its role as challenger to the title Verstappen e Red Bull.
“It’s not just McLaren in the role of anti-Maxit depends on the circumstances, on the track conditions. In Monaco Ferrari dominated, in Canada we were there but not the best car. In Barcelona in 2 tenths there were 4 teams.
The only thing I observe is that there is great uncertainty as a consequence of the great balance, and it is very good news for Formula 1.”
McLaren, developments and continuous growth at the forefront
It will not be a major development, however, the introduction of an evolution of the front wing in a Sprint weekend – as already happened in Miami there yes with a big package of new features -, confirms that trust and reliability of the factory indications on the benefits and expectations regarding new components.
“We have introduced a new front wingconducted comparative tests even if we do not have all the information that can be had in an ordinary weekend, where you can try the new component for several sessions“, continues Stella. “We will try to analyze the data as best we can make a choice about which component to take to the track in the next sessions”.
McLaren is thinking in terms of the championship, yes, but that’s not enough. “Certainly at this stage of the season, being third in the constructors’ championship and second in the drivers’ championship, we naturally feel we are fighting for the Title. We do it with a sense of realism, there is a big gap compared to those leading the championships and the situation is very balanced and the teams will distribute the points. It is a very difficult goal to achieve.
For us the most important thing is stay focused on ourselves, on our technical and operational development path, then – as we always say among ourselves – we let the results come in our direction, rather than thinking about the objectives. We need to think about the next step to achieve our goals.”
