McLaren boss Andrea Stella has disclosed the team did contemplate covering Red Bull’s early choice to commit to an extra pitstop in Formula 1‘s Spanish Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s decision to box Verstappen as soon as he relinquished second place to Lando Norris on Lap 12 inspired an intriguing strategic battle to ensue in Barcelona.
McLaren elected not to respond with either driver until eight laps had passed, ensuring that Verstappen inherited the lead once Oscar Piastri exited the pits on Lap 22.
But while Verstappen was guaranteed to be making an additional trip through the pits, the Dutchman’s lightning pace during his third stint created unease at McLaren.
Even though Verstappen’s mid-race assault subsided, Stella conceded that it was a surprise the three-stop transpired to be a more competitive option than envisaged.
Stella explained that the Woking-based squad did grant immediate consideration to guarding against the potential threat that Red Bull’s gamble could have presented.
“When he stopped at the lap he stopped, it was clear that it was a three-stop,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.
“The first stop, because from there with two sets it pretty much is impossible. It’s too suboptimal to go for a two-stop when you stop so early.
“But for us, to be honest, it didn’t change anything because we thought for a moment whether we should do the same.
“We decided that we shouldn’t because at the time there were no indications that we should have gone on a three-stop.
“If anything, in the middle of the race Verstappen was faster than we expected. He put us under quite a lot of pressure.
“But our drivers at the end of the second stint found that little bit of performance that allowed us to manage the second stop retaining the first and the second position.”
How Red Bull’s gamble became its undoing
McLaren’s call to remain aligned with the conventional two-stop strategy that it had planned paid dividends when the Safety Car was deployed with 11 laps remaining.
However, the disruption would prove to be Red Bull’s undoing as an erroneous switch to the Hard compound culminated in a penalised Verstappen regressing to 10th.
“I think in a race where you have so much tyre degradation you are always incentivised to pit,” Stella acknowledged.
“I think if you ask the driver would you like to stay out or pit for a Hard, I’m not sure which one he would pick. That’s all I know about this situation.
“But even for us, let’s say for us staying on a two-stop it gave us definitely a tyre for a Safety Car.
“I think going on a three-stop you run out of tyres and I’m not sure if we had another used Soft available. But a Hard tyre at the restart is always going to be a problem.”
However, Stella dismissed the notion that McLaren decided against replicating Red Bull’s strategy based on the available tyres that it had heading into the 66-lap race.
“No, we went for the two-stop because we thought it was the fastest strategy,” the Italian concluded.
READ MORE – How Red Bull caused McLaren brief concern in F1 Spanish GP
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