“Plan C?”: Why McLaren only got their strategy right for one driver at Imola

Oscar Piastri’s hopes of winning the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix took a hit when he lost the lead to Max Verstappen at the start of the race.

But McLaren were still confident they had a chance to win the race. “Remember Saudi Arabia,” Piastri’s race engineer Tom Stallard told him. Piastri trailed Verstappen in the first stint there on his way to victory, though the Red Bull driver had a five-second time penalty on that occasion.

Piastri wasn’t able to beat Verstappen this time. McLaren brought him in early, hoping to attack Red Bull by getting him on to fresher tyres sooner and benefiting from the ‘undercut’.

But Red Bull did not react to Piastri’s pit stop. While he slogged through traffic in the midfield, Verstappen extended his lead. McLaren decided against bringing Lando Norris in at the same time as Piastri, and his superior strategy helped him finish ahead of his team mate.

Here’s how it unfolded.

Selected radio messages from Norris and Piastri

“Remember Saudi Arabia”

“Remember Saudi Arabia”
“Do you think this is plan C?”
“Verstappen has gone past”
“This will be plan A”
“Safety Car deployed”
“If we fight, then we could go backwards”
“Just keep this tyre alive for five laps”
“Not quick enough to win today”

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Both McLaren drivers and Verstappen started the race on the medium tyre compound. While they expected to only make a single pit stop for hard tyres, others were eyeing the possibility of making an early tyre change and potentially pitting twice.

Piastri kept pace with Verstappen initially, then lost half a second on lap 10 and again on lap 11. Meanwhile McLaren were keeping an eye on the drivers behind them. Charles Leclerc became one of the first to make an early pit stop.

Lap: 2/63 NOR: 1’21.819, PIA: 1’21.601
		Stallard	Blue mode one, blue mode one. And remember Saudi Arabia.
		Stallard	DRS enabled.
Lap: 7/63 NOR: 1’21.347, PIA: 1’21.407
Norris	Yeah, pace is good, just stuck at the minute I think.
Lap: 9/63 NOR: 1’22.486, PIA: 1’21.168
Joseph	Russell complaining about rear tyres, keep pushing on it.
Lap: 10/63 NOR: 1’22.982, PIA: 1’21.742
		Piastri	Deg feels higher than FP2.
Lap: 11/63 NOR: 1’23.050, PIA: 1’21.741
Norris	Norris passes Russell Yeah, my rears are pretty fucked.	Stallard	Leclerc has pitted.

“Do you think this is plan C?”

Although Piastri largely stabilised his gap to Verstappen on lap 12, McLaren were still eyeing the possibility of bringing him in. He warned that ‘Plan A’ – a standard mid-race pit stop – didn’t look viable. Stallard asked Piastri twice whether he wanted to switch to ‘Plan C’ and the driver agreed.

Meanwhile Norris had fallen eight seconds behind his team mate having lost time passing George Russell. He warned his tyres were in poor condition and race engineer Will Joseph told him they would consider a pit stop unless his lap times improved.

Norris began lapping quicker and McLaren decided to leave him out.

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Lap: 12/63 NOR: 1’22.021, PIA: 1’21.680
Joseph	Lando, Leclerc has undercut us already. So I think we should try to stay out, the tyre might recover a bit.	Stallard	Lando has passed Russell, he’s 7.7 seconds behind.
Joseph	Unless we can pick the pace up, box this lap.	Piastri	Plan A is very ambitious at the moment.
		Stallard	Copy, Oscar. Suggest red mid six, red mid six. Oscar, do you think this is plan C?
Lap: 13/63 NOR: 1’21.292, PIA: 1’26.205
Joseph	And Lando, if we can keep this pace up, which is good, happy to stay out.	Piastri	Yes.
		Stallard	Use the pace, Oscar.
		Stallard	Oscar I need to know what you think. It looks like this path won’t recover, so we suggest plan C. Oscar, we should box. We should box. Box this lap.
		Piastri	Copy, box.

“Verstappen has gone past”

Piastri’s pit stop was slightly delayed by a slow tyre change. McLaren kept an eye on whether Red Bull would react to their pit stop and immediately informed Piastri he had not come in. Norris also continued to stay out. Piastri began to catch and pass other drivers, including Verstappen’s team mate Yuki Tsunoda.

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Lap: 14/63 NOR: 1’21.322, PIA: 1’45.124
Joseph	Oscar has pitted, Verstappen has not.	Stallard	The track will be clear. Okay, Tsunoda is six seconds ahead
Joseph	Suggest left-hand paddle for turn 17. Lando how are the tyres?	Piastri	How do you want me to play this?
Norris	Yeah, pretty fucked. I don’t have much more pace than this. They’re coming back to me a little bit but they’re grained I think so I don’t have a lot more pace.	Stallard	Verstappen has gone past. Think you need to bring the rears in a bit.
Joseph	And both Safety Car windows are open, please confirm.	Stallard	Just sensible with traction, sensible with traction. Gap to Verstappen is 30.6
Norris	Yeah confirm.
Lap: 15/63 NOR: 1’21.056, PIA: 1’20.954
		Stallard	ACS button. Verstappen last lap 21.4
Lap: 18/63 NOR: 1’21.122, PIA: 1’22.160
Joseph	Okay Lando this is really strong, so gap to Russell 29.3.	Stallard	Bearman does not have DRS. Piastri passes Bearman
Lap: 19/63 NOR: 1’20.946, PIA: 1’21.572
		Stallard	Next car’s Colapinto.
Lap: 21/63 NOR: 1’21.243, PIA: 1’21.403
Joseph	Some feedback on the hard tyre. It’s similar to the medium, but you need free air to manage the temperatures. Overtaking is as we expected, Oscar did one per lap.	Stallard	Verstappen last lap 21.3, Lando 21.2.

“This will be plan A”

As Norris’s lap times improved, McLaren confirmed he would stick with ‘Plan A’. Meanwhile Stallard was considering ‘Plan B’ for Piastri, but soon afterwards Esteban Ocon came to a stop, triggering a Virtual Safety Car period which prompted another change of plan.

Unfortunately for Norris, he pitted on the lap before Ocon came to a stop. Verstappen was able to pit during the VSC, and therefore gained around 10 seconds on Norris.

Piastri told Stallard he did not believe staying out would pay off due to the rate at which the tyres were going off, so he also came in for a fresh set.

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Lap: 22/63 NOR: 1’20.918, PIA: 1’20.939
Joseph	Lando I think you know, but this will be plan A. Keep giving us the feedback about the tyres. Gap to Colapinto, who’s P9, 27.3.	Stallard	Now you have five seconds of clean air ahead.
		Stallard	Let’s see how the tyre recovers. This could be plan B.
Lap: 25/63 NOR: 1’21.558, PIA: 1’21.516
		Stallard	How’s the car?
		Piastri	Feels okay now.
Lap: 27/63 NOR: 1’21.492, PIA: 1’20.942
		Stallard	One more, that’s Hadjar.
Lap: 28/63 NOR: 1’26.185, PIA: 1’21.203
Joseph	Lando if the pace is going to go away, we just need to decide where to thread this needle.	Stallard	This is seven seconds of clear air to Albon.
Norris	Yeah, the pace is going a bit.
Joseph	Lando, suggest strat six, strat six and box this lap.
	Box this lap, box this lap.
Lap: 29/63 NOR: 2’05.011, PIA: 1’42.660
Joseph	Yellow flags turn seven. Virtual Safety Car deployed. Virtual Safety Car deployed.	Stallard	And there are yellow flags turned seven. Ocon is off-track on the left hand side. VSC Oscar, VSC delta positive. Do you think we can do plan B here? Do you think we could do plan B?
Norris	It’s going to be a while though, it’s better just to do a Safety Car.	Piastri	Er, I think it will be tough. The dirty air and the traffic is a nightmare.
		Stallard	Copy. So Lando’s already pitted, he is behind Hamilton. Verstappen is in now. Piastri pits on the following lap

“Safety Car deployed”

The race restarted but was neutralised again later on when Andrea Kimi Antonelli pulled up in his Mercedes. Piastri had no fresh tyres left to take, but Norris had pre-approved a decision to take his final set of hard tyres.

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Lap: 44/63 NOR: 1’19.782, PIA: 1’19.849
Joseph	Lando Safety Car decision, if there was a Safety Car, if we fitted a hard, we would come out a couple seconds behind Oscar. We think we would do it.	Stallard	Last lap was purple. Suggest bal plus a half.
Norris	Yeah, confirm.
Lap: 45/63 NOR: 1’20.402, PIA: 1’20.339
Speaker 4	And Lando, we’d like some more [lift-and-coast] for the rear tyres, in particular turn 14.	Stallard	Lando and Verstappen doing 19.8.
Lap: 46/63 NOR: 1’42.996, PIA: 1’43.758
Joseph	Antonelli has stopped on the exit of turn 7 where there’s yellow flags. And Safety Car deployed, Safety Car deployed.	Stallard	Yellow flags turn seven, Antonelli has stopped on the left part of the track.
Norris	Are we taking it or not?	Stallard	Safety Car, Safety Car. Recharge on, delta positive.
		Stallard	Oscar, we’re staying out. Verstappen and Lando have pitted so use the delta, close to zero.
Lap: 47/63 NOR: 2’14.547, PIA: 1’52.824
Norris	Pretty sure I was ahead.	Stallard	So Lando was very close to Albon at exit we’re just checking.
Joseph	Yeah, we’re just checking now.
Joseph	Lando, we’re just checking with the FIA about Albon. The Safety Car is approaching turn two and there is a recovery vehicle on track for Antonelli.
Lap: 48/63 NOR: 1’52.199, PIA: 1’56.741
Joseph	Lando we were waiting for an instruction with the FIA, the instruction came from them after Albon pitted, therefore, we are all good.	Stallard	Catch up to the Safety Car, it’s currently turn two. So recovery vehicle on track in turn seven.
Norris	Cool, all good.	Stallard	Albon pitted, so Lando is now the car behind.
Joseph	And thank you for the feedback because we checked with them immediately as soon as you gave it.

“If we fight, then we could go backwards”

Norris’s last pit stop dropped him back behind Piastri, though he had a significant tyre advantage. He urged McLaren to tell Piastri not to make life difficult for him, which he did not.

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Lap: 49/63 NOR: 2’03.822, PIA: 2’04.422
Norris	I see Oscar’s tyres are pretty dead. If you want any chance of trying to go for the lead then I guess you know what to do. I’m not asking you to let me by, I’m just saying let’s not make it too hard for one another, that’s all. If we fight, then we could go backwards.	Stallard	So it’s 15 laps from here. So Oscar the picture is, Verstappen, yourself. Verstappen on a new hard. Lando on a new hard. Leclerc behind him, same age hard as you. Albon behind him, new hard
Lap: 50/63 NOR: 2’08.986, PIA: 2’09.573
		Piastri	How come they’re not letting Bearman past?
		Stallard	The field has yet to bunch up. But Oscar honestly, I don’t know. I think because the track is not yet clear in turn seven. The car is still being moved between turn seven and nine.
		Stallard	Tosa Double yellows here.
Lap: 51/63 NOR: 2’03.003, PIA: 2’03.052
		Stallard	Oscar rears are back into a good window. Just make sure the fronts don’t get too cool. Track is now clear ahead.
Lap: 52/63 NOR: 1’59.123, PIA: 1’58.892
		Stallard	It’s 12 laps from here. Track is now clear in sector one. Bearman being told to overtake.

Just keep this tyre alive for five laps

Piastri ekes his tyres out for the remainder of the stint while Lewis Hamilton emerged from the chasing pack too late to catch him.

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Lap: 53/63 NOR: 2’10.020, PIA: 2’11.138
Joseph	And the Safety Car is in this lap. Safety Car is in this lap.	Stallard	The Safety Car will be in this lap, the Safety Car will be in this lap.
Lap: 55/63 NOR: 1’19.218, PIA: 1’19.106
		Stallard	DRS enabled.
Lap: 56/63 NOR: 1’18.804, PIA: 1’18.894
		Stallard	Lando 0.9
		Stallard	0.8.
Lap: 58/63 NOR: 1’18.680, PIA: 1’21.102
		Stallard	Norris passes him at Tamburello Suggest brake balance plus one. There’s five laps to go. Behind you are Leclerc and Albon, Albon on new tyres. Just keep this tyre alive for five laps.
Lap: 60/63 NOR: 1’18.480, PIA: 1’19.483
		Stallard	Albon went wide, turn three through the gravel, could be some gravel, turn three exit, three laps to go. Hamilton now the car behind, he’s on new tyres.
Lap: 62/63 NOR: 1’18.685, PIA: 1’19.349
Joseph	And Lando two laps to go, do not use the right hand toggle in turn seven, the paddle is okay though.
Lap: 63/63 NOR: 1’18.311, PIA: 1’19.546
Joseph	This is the last lap.	Stallard	This is the last lap, use strat five.

Not quick enough to win today

Norris’s pace in free air looked strong on both the medium and the hard tyre, but he lost too much time at various stages in the race to be able to use it. Even so, his post-race messages expressed concern over the team’s pace.

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Chequered flag
Joseph	P2, mate. Recharge on. ACS button press. And maximum pick-up, please.	Stallard	Okay, that’s the chequered flag, leave recharge off.
Norris	Yeah, well done, good race. Clearly just not the pace to win today, so let’s keep pushing guys. I know it’s been a lovely start but not quick enough to win today so let’s keep it up. Keep working hard. Thank you very much.	Stallard	P3. That’s not the race we wanted. Pace was okay. [Unclear]
Joseph	My pleasure mate, long, long way to go. Let’s just have fun doing it, alright?	Piastri	Yeah, tricky afternoon. Well done everyone, good weekend, a lot of positives. Need to do a bit better too.

2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

• Antonelli was tiring from home race at Imola attention by Friday – Wolff
• Ferrari struggling to recreate set-up which “worked well” in Shanghai – Hamilton
• Verstappen told Red Bull to use Tsunoda before “hold him up” call
• ‘Saturdays have been mine for years but for some reason it’s drifted away’ – Norris
• “Plan C?”: Why McLaren only got their strategy right for one driver at Imola

Browse all 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix articles