McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has urged Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to “minimise trouble” at the start of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
With unpredictable weather and the demanding Spa-Francorchamps circuit ahead, McLaren is stressing the importance of a clean opening lap to lay the foundation for a strong race finish.
Norris topped qualifying for the Grand Prix after team-mate Piastri claimed pole for Friday’s Sprint, setting McLaren up for a front-row lockout on Sunday.
Fresh from back-to-back wins, the British driver aims to make it three in a row and seize the championship lead.
Piastri, who finished just behind Max Verstappen in the Sprint to increase his advantage to nine points over Norris, is hunting his first victory since Spain.
Stella highlighted the key challenges ahead for both drivers, particularly with wet weather expected to complicate the race.
“I think both drivers will try, first of all, to have the fastest run through corner one,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I guess positioning for the one that will be in P2, positioning the car in order to be able to take the slipstream, will be potentially a decisive factor.
“I have to say that based on the weather forecast, this is not necessarily going to happen in dry conditions, so if it’s wet, it will be even more interesting, because Eau Rouge may not be easy flat, like it is nowadays on Lap 1 in a Formula 1 car.
“Certainly, what I will tell the drivers is that lap one is just lap one of 44, and when you have such a good competitive car, you just have to make sure that we minimise the trouble during Lap 1.
“And then if we execute the race in the best possible way, I think we will be in condition to regain the possibility to win the race, even if Lap 1 doesn’t go according to the outcome of qualifying.”
McLaren wary of potential Leclerc threat
Stella also acknowledged the threat posed by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc from third, noting the need to balance focus between what lies ahead and what’s behind.
“At the same time, while you look ahead, you will have to look a little bit behind, because Ferrari has a significant speed advantage, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Leclerc is actually leading the group at the end of Lap 1,” he continued.
“So there’s certainly some planning that you can do, but ultimately you have to let the drivers make their own assessment, their own judgement.”
Anticipating wet conditions, McLaren made subtle adjustments to both cars between the Sprint Race and qualifying, increasing rear wing downforce by extending the Gurney flaps.
While this improved grip, it came at the cost of some top speed – a trade-off that the McLaren boss says could leave Norris and Piastri vulnerable to Leclerc’s Ferrari.
“Leclerc behind us seems to be on a low-downforce setting again,” Stella explained.
“So we know that we will be exposed for the first lap, but Lando has proven today that, if you have enough of a pace advantage, like we had on Ferrari, then it may be possible to overtake – like it happened today with Lando overtaking [Leclerc, on Lap 4].”
Norris: Changing conditions add strategic complexity
Norris, meanwhile, is expecting a more dynamic race than Saturday’s Sprint, especially if the weather allows for strategic variation.
“I think as soon as you start to bring in some strategy and tyre differences, especially with the C1 to the C3/C4 [tyre compound] jump, I definitely expect more racing if it is dry,” he said.
“The tricky thing is you’re talking about the field being more compact than ever, which puts on a good show in qualifying, and things are tight and thrilling and great to watch, but that often just makes it trickier at times for the racing.
“The gaps are smaller, you can make smaller differences from car to car and driver to driver. So there are pros and cons in everything.
“The more we develop these cars, generally the trickier it becomes to overtake and to follow as well. It’s never an easy one to get right.
“But I’m sure if it was a dry race tomorrow, I’d expect more racing. I don’t expect it to be dry, so I expect just more racing and more chaos anyway.”
READ MORE – Where Oscar Piastri lost F1 Belgian GP pole to McLaren team-mate Lando Norris
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