How Norris and McLaren used Spa rain and a ‘super-undercut’ to salvage points

7 comments on “How Norris and McLaren used Spa rain and a ‘super-undercut’ to salvage points”

1. 

   sumedh
   31st July 2023, 6:20

   That really was a killer strategy by Mclaren. That mild rain was the only opportunity they had to try something different. And they grabbed it with both hands. Great move to put on softs and get Lando in clear air which allowed him to unleash his middle sector pace.

   Lesson to Lando, trust your team on strategy more (remember Sochi, 2021?). They are just as good as you and your car development team.
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      31st July 2023, 8:15

      Well, the original call to go from mediums to hards was not a great one though, possibly if they had then put him on softs (as Haas did with Hulkenberg) might have meant he would not have dropped as far back. Then again, he also wouldn’t have gained as much and they probably wouldn’t have gone for a strategic choice like this later on.
   2. 

      MattDS (@mattds)
      31st July 2023, 10:51

      Again Sochi. No, no, no. So many people getting this backwards.
      Fact: McLaren NEVER asked him to pit in Sochi 21. They asked him what he wanted to do and his instinct told him to stay out. He never ignored a box call, and McLaren never told him the rain would intensify.
      Compare that to Mercedes/Hamilton: Mercedes DID tell Lewis to box, he ignored that as he too had the instinct to stay out, Mercedes then DID follow up with saying rain would intensify and he really needed to box, to which he complied.

      Lando had the exact same instinct as Lewis (to carry on), the difference is one of these drivers had a team that told him to box (twice) and gave a proper weather forecast to convince the driver to come in, while the other driver’s team failed doing that.
      1. 

         Esploratore (@esploratore1)
         31st July 2023, 20:31

         Absolutely, and norris did an incredible job on slicks, he had good chances to stay ahead in intermediate conditions, however the rain intensified and as soon as he ended up with slicks on full wet conditions it wasn’t possible to continue any more, and there’s another element too: hamilton was fighting for the title, there was a massive gap, almost 1 min to the 3rd placed car, so absolutely no risk to end up behind 2nd place if he had lost out to norris strategically, so he decided to play it safe and pit for inters, while norris was trying a rare occasion for a first win, so I will always be convinced he HAD to try something, and pitting would’ve meant giving away any victory chance if hamilton stayed out and the conditions hadn’t worsened.
2. 

   Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
   31st July 2023, 13:08

   So, luck and tactical nous in equal measure?!
3. 

   Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
   31st July 2023, 20:10

   It did have me scratching my head, after watching Norris’s onboard view, presumably complete with DRS, of Sargeant’s Williams disappearing off up the Kemmel straight…then Lando was going round the outside of him. Softs are quicker than inters in the rain? Well done, Pirelli.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      31st July 2023, 20:32

      To be honest though, that wasn’t real rain, it was too little, you need at least persistent light rain to have to use inters.

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