Strategic Blunder Costs McLaren the Advantage in Qatar
On any given weekend across the Formula 1 calendar, a P2/P4 finish is a result that any team should be happy with. While Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were all smiles on the podium, Oscar Piastri was left speechless as he, far and away the fastest racer across the weekend, held the trophy for second place. Lando Norris, still the championship leader, was nowhere to be found. By all individual measures, both racers had a near-guarantee of a podium finish. Still, McLaren made a crucial, avoidable blunder in the early laps that almost certainly cost them the victory at Qatar and may even have cost their drivers the title fight.
The mistake came under a safety car on lap seven. A collision with Pierre Gasly sent Nico Hulkenberg spinning off the track, and with the safety car out, every team decided to pit. That is, every team except McLaren chose to hold their lead positions in the race and stay out on their initial medium tires. Norris regained P2 by staying out, which he had lost to Verstappen on the first turn, but the decision to remain out cost both drivers positions later in the race. The delay forced the papaya duo to fight to regain their places, and following the team’s second pit stops, they fell even further behind. Norris rejoined the track in fifth behind Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, whom he overtook in the final 10 laps, but could not catch up to Carlos Sainz in third. Oscar, still with the fastest lap times, could not make up the distance to Verstappen, ending the race in second.
This is the second weekend for McLaren since they lost points due to a team error. In Las Vegas, both cars were disqualified after they were found to be out of regulation parameters, giving Max Verstappen a significant boost towards the WDC. This second blunder weekend now brings Verstappen above Piastri in the Driver’s standings and closes his gap from Norris to only 12 points. Norris, who could have won the title fight in Qatar, will now be competing against both Piastri and Verstappen in the final race in Abu Dhabi. Should Verstappen win his fifth championship title next weekend, it will go down as a historic upset as he managed to close a landmark point gap since the August break. For McLaren, it could go down as one of the greatest chokes in the long history of Formula 1.
