McLaren boss Andrea Stella pointed to a sudden shift in wind conditions and a cautious approach from both drivers as key reasons the team missed out on pole position for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
While Charles Leclerc and Ferrari managed to adapt and seize the top spot, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri slipped behind after struggling to extract performance in the changing conditions at the end of Q3.
McLaren had dominated proceedings on Friday, with Norris topping both FP1 and FP2, before Piastri stole the spotlight on Saturday.
The team’s strong form carried into qualifying as both drivers shared the top spot in Q1 and Q2, comfortably advancing to the final shootout.
Piastri edged out his team-mate on the first Q3 run, with both dipping into the 1:14s — the Australian narrowly ahead.
But a sudden shift in conditions threw a curveball into the final moments, allowing Leclerc to snatch pole from the papaya pair by just 0.026s.
After the session, Stella pointed to the abrupt weather changes as a key factor behind the result.
“I think it’s an interesting point of conversation in terms of understanding of how things go for a Formula 1 car,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“Because definitely we had a significant change of conditions. You can see in the video data a steep change in terms of wind direction, wind intensity, temperature, humidity, everything changed.
“And everyone from Q2 up until when we were pretty competitive – we put together definitely strong laps – went slower.
“We went slower by about half a second, on average. Actually, we simulated the change of conditions in our simulations, and it gives a little bit less than that, but about four-tenths of a second.
“But Ferrari and Leclerc managed to go actually faster. So [the] track was definitely slower.”
Stella believes McLaren drivers took a cautious approach with title in mind
While the wind and weather shift created a measurable disadvantage for McLaren, Stella pointed out that the outcome wasn’t solely dictated by the conditions.
Instead, he suggested that Leclerc’s all-or-nothing approach, compared to the measured caution from McLaren’s drivers, also played a decisive role in the final order.
“I think for Lando and Oscar, after they had seen in the first run that conditions had changed, that the grid wasn’t what they expected, that every corner was going to be a bit unpredictable, therefore the lap time didn’t come,” he added.
“I think in the second set they needed to be a bit cautious. Because when you race for the championship, you want to make sure that you are there.
“I think this is a slightly different approach for Charles. I think he just went for it, like, ‘I don’t think I have much to lose here’. And it paid off, and this is a credit and merit to a very good execution by Ferrari and Charles.”
While Stella acknowledged the role of track and ambient temperatures, noting their potential impact, he emphasised they were secondary factors compared to the wind.
McLaren braces for tricky race conditions but confident in pace
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, the McLaren chief expects cooler conditions at the Hungaroring, as he cautioned that changing weather conditions could add complexity.
“I think tomorrow, in addition to the wind, there may be some rain around, so actually the situation could be quite a bit more complex than simply adapting to the temperature or adapting to the wind,’ he said.
“I think once you, from a driving point of view, and from an engineering point of view, once you understand that the wind has a certain pattern, then you can adapt.
“What caught us out a little bit in Q3 is not only the change of wind direction, but the fact that it was a little unclear what actually the grip would have been in every single corner, and like I said before, both drivers, especially in the second run, I think they approached it with some caution.
“But once you sort of know what’s happening, then I think you can start pushing a bit more.
“Where to push a little bit less, where to push a little bit more, because you’re going to have a bit of headwind, and then I’m kind of optimistic that we will be able to express the pace of the car and the full potential.
Stella remained optimistic about McLaren’s race pace despite the qualifying setback.
“I’ve been saying to some of you already yesterday that Ferrari was in the game,” he explained. “Ferrari seemed to be competitive, but at the same time, we are confident that we will have the pace to fight for the victory.”
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