In the Austrian stage of F1, McLaren has confirmed that it is the most concrete challenger of the Milton Keynes team even on the first day of the sprint weekend a Spielberg. The McL38 it is proving to be a fast but above all flexible single-seater, capable of performing well in the Monte Carlo toboggan as well as in medium-low aerodynamic load circuits such as Montreal than among the Austrian hills. For this reason the dark face of Lando Norris on the edge of the second place in Spain it is comprensible.
The papaya single-seater is ready to take command of operations and become the benchmark of the category. In order for this scenario to occur, two necessary and sufficient conditions must be met: the native pilot of Bristol and its team must be aware of their strength and that any result other than victory is not acceptable. After years of fasting or isolated victories, the historic English team has lost the winning mentality of the team founded by Bruce McLaren.
Now the bar must be set higher as there are all the conditions for this world championship to be contested by the rivals blu racing until the end of this very long season. The possibility of being able to count on the support of Oscar Plates in the upper reaches of the starting grid allows for the study of strategic plans capable of putting the team in difficulty Max Verstappen. This is because, Red Bull he just can’t catch up Sergio Perez or maybe the RB20is currently a single-seater that can only be taken to the top of the rankings Max Verstappen.
Despite the concerns of the eve, it took less than an hour for the Dutch rider and his technicians to deliver a setup that allowed the three-time world champion to start from the pole position in tomorrow’s race over the distance of 100 km. Once again McLaren she was beaten by less than a tenth but managed to place Norris in the front row and Plates in third place.
F1, McLaren: confirmation of being able to compete on every track
In the ritual hot interviews Norris seemed quite satisfied. The English driver explained that he felt at ease in the last lap of the sprint shootout. Lando is not surprised by the outcome of the qualifying as he has always been close to the top of the standings since the beginning of the year. Being just behind Verstappen it’s a good position for the race sprint tomorrow and makes him confident that he can fight with the three-time world champion. The team Australian mate provided more details regarding the one-lap performance. The driver of Melbourne he admitted that he immediately found a good one feeling with the car, a factor that allowed him to be fast right from the start free practice 1.
However, the class of 2001 is disappointed because on the decisive lap for defining the starting grid of the sprint race he honestly confessed that he could have been cleaner in a couple of corners. However Oscar is aware of the areas for improvement and has learned from last week’s disappointing performance in Spain. Going into technical detail Piastri explained that the new front wing worked as expected. The team of Woking on the occasion of the stage in Austria debuted the aforementioned component capable of directing the air flow in a manner consistent with the new geometry of the front suspension.
In conclusion, the young Australian ace said he was confident that he could be fighting for victory this time weekendconsidering that the detachment from Verstappen not huge especially in race configuration. If indeed Oscar will want to follow up on this aim, he will first have to repeat today’s performance in tomorrow’s qualifying and try to overtake his team mate who is looking for revenge after the second place on Iberian soil which by his own admission Lando represents a defeat by virtue of the superiority of his vehicle compared to that of his Dutch friend/rival.
Author and graphics: Roberto Cecere – @robertofunoat
Images: McLaren – F1Tv
