McLaren's missed opportunities: a recurring theme at the British Grand Prix

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

Silverstone bore witness to a familiar scene in the world of Formula 1: while Lewis Hamilton celebrated his ninth British Grand Prix victory, Lando Norris and McLaren were left contemplating another 'what might have been' scenario.

Norris found himself once again in the shadows of what could have been a race victory. McLaren's recurring theme of near-misses and strategic blunders has been evident since Norris' breakthrough win at the Miami Grand Prix. Each race since, excluding Monaco where Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claimed the win, has presented a potential triumph that slipped through McLaren's fingers.

In quintessential fashion, Silverstone epitomized McLaren’s season. As Hamilton, draped in a British flag and moved to tears, addressed a home crowd, Norris could be seen quietly resigning to third place in parc fermé, a stark contrast with the joyous celebrations around him.

Reflecting on the race, Norris lamented, "I've heard that a lot lately. I hate saying it again, but so many things were going well and we threw it away at the final stop."

The pivotal error occurred during the transition from wet to dry tyres under demanding conditions at Silverstone. Norris, leading briefly on lap 39, was caught in a strategic quagmire as McLaren faltered in decisiveness, ultimately costing him a potential victory. The pit wall offered him a choice between soft tyres, mirroring Hamilton, and mediums to cover Verstappen’s hard tyres. Norris opted for the softs, a decision marred by a minor overshoot in the pit box, resulting in a costly 4.5-second stop.

Post-race, Norris reflected on the decisions made, admitting, "One lap too late, but also I think that even had I boxed on the perfect lap, our decision to go on the softs was the wrong one. I think Lewis would still have won, no matter what, but two calls from our side cost us everything today."

In hindsight, McLaren appeared to have misjudged their strategy. Mercedes had placed Hamilton on soft tyres due to a lack of mediums, while McLaren overlooked an available new set of mediums for Norris. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff commented on the miscalculation, noting that a medium-hard-soft order may have been optimal.

As the race progressed, Norris' attention shifted from Hamilton’s Mercedes to fending off Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The Dutchman capitalized on his hard tyres' performance and overtook Norris eight laps post-pit stop, pushing Norris to finish ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, who also might have contended for a stronger finish had strategy aligned differently.

An early shower disrupted several drivers' strategies. Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc pitted too early for intermediate dry tyres, but by lap 27, heavy rain necessitated a switch to intermediates. Max Verstappen made a timely call to dive into the pits, leaving McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

The British Grand Prix was a microcosm of McLaren's season so far —

The race’s pivotal moment came a lap later. Norris pitted as the leading quartet neared the pit entry, but Piastri stayed out. In contrast, Mercedes called both its drivers for a double stack. Piastri, instantly realizing his error, admitted, "As soon as I went past pit entry! The last couple of corners were very, very tough. I could see on my dash that Lando was five seconds behind me when I pitted so I knew I was in a lot of trouble then. I knew it was the wrong call basically, instantly."

Piastri's decision forced him to navigate increasingly treacherous conditions, significantly affecting his race. "There was only really half the track that was really difficult until the lap I stayed out. Then the whole track became difficult," he explained. Despite this, Piastri acknowledged that this was McLaren’s sole strategic misstep in the race to finish just 12 seconds behind Hamilton.

Piastri's comments underscored the difficulty of pit-stop decisions under changing conditions. "To be honest, that decision in that race is probably the hardest call you're ever going to make in motor racing. You've got two cars one-two, separated by half a second with the rain coming down. I don't think it gets any harder than that. I think there are some things we need to review," he added. While albeit challenging, Mercedes executed it flawlessly. It was a bold, decisive call from a team solely focused on winning. Piastri's appraisal suggests McLaren has been close to perfection but consistently falls short in critical moments.

Two weeks after his Miami win, Norris finished 0.2 seconds behind Verstappen at Imola. A safety car had given him a crucial win in Florida, yet a slow reaction to one in Canada cost him another victory in North America. Similarly, poor starts in Spain and late-race tangles in Austria saw potential wins slip away.

After the race, it was insightful to hear contrasting viewpoints from Mercedes' Toto Wolff and Red Bull's Christian Horner compared to McLaren's reflections. Wolff stated, "I think the communication with the driver today was very good and we kept the channel open at all times. Among ourselves we kept discussing the pros and cons, we were monitoring the gaps and the strategy said we believe the crossover is now. And that was spot on, that was the perfect time to pit."

Horner praised both Verstappen and the team's synchronization for their second-place finish. "You've got to have a relationship -- the driver-engineer relationship, working with the strategists, the spotters, everything has to come together and Max was giving us great information and we picked the right tire at the end of the race and we got the calls at the right time and he delivered on it. Everything has to be working in harmony," Horner remarked.

McLaren's struggle with decision-making harmony is evident. CEO Zak Brown and team boss Andrea Stella have transformed McLaren into consistent victory contenders, but missing elements remain. The smallest margins decide wins and losses, and McLaren repeatedly falls just short. The picture for McLaren would differ immensely had they operated like Mercedes and Red Bull at Silverstone.

A series of missed opportunities could become a larger issue for McLaren, especially as recent performances by Miami and Norris have demonstrated that McLaren has significantly narrowed the gap to Red Bull, ending Verstappen's uncontested victories. Meanwhile, Ferrari's form has waned since Charles Leclerc's Monaco victory, but Mercedes is now showing a resurgence.

While George Russell capitalized on Norris' collision with Verstappen in Austria last week, Mercedes' pace at Silverstone was strong enough to secure a front-row lockout, thrusting them into contention when McLaren faltered.

When asked on Sunday evening if Hamilton's win signified Mercedes’ return to the competitive mix for victories, team principal Toto Wolff affirmed:

"It does feel that way. Because last weekend we were far off, when you look at the gap we had before they crashed. It was nearly two-tenths a lap, a bit more. And that's the closest we've been for a long time on a track we didn't like so much in the past. That kind of gave us hints that it could be getting much better.

Honestly, we didn't think it would be Silverstone because more stuff we were putting on the car we were more expecting Budapest or Spa. But I agree, we justified what we do is right at the moment."

The warning for McLaren is evident: the fight at the front is becoming more competitive, and Mercedes is just as capable as Verstappen in capitalizing on their mistakes.

From a broader perspective, McLaren will be kicking themselves. It's plausible to argue that Norris could, or should, have won five of the six races since Miami. Imagining what the championship standings would be if he had done so is tantalizing. Among those races where Norris had a chance, Verstappen clinched victories in three—Imola, Canada, and Spain.

Verstappen left Silverstone with an 84-point lead over Norris at the mid-point of the season, but the gap could have been much narrower had McLaren converted even half of their missed opportunities. The continued struggles of Verstappen's teammate Perez have kept the constructors' championship interesting: Red Bull leads Ferrari by 71 points and McLaren by 78 points. While closing that gap seems more feasible, Mercedes' emergence could mean fewer points to take away from Red Bull.

No matter how you view it, the races following McLaren's win in Miami highlight significant missed opportunities. As the championship unfolds, McLaren may look back on this period with the same frustration that Norris felt on Sunday evening.

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