The two overtakes on Hamilton made in the wrong place cost Norris seconds that could have allowed him to attack Leclerc in the final laps and claim the podium. A misjudgment that could prove costly at the end of the year…
1.092 seconds. That’s the slim gap that separated Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris at the end of the 50 laps of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver managed to hold off the attacks of the now-former Drivers’ Championship leader at the very last moment, denying him a podium spot. A bitter pill for the British driver, who could have crowned a strong comeback with a result that would have left him just 7 points behind Oscar Piastri in the standings, rather than the current 10.
Minor details, sure, but details can make all the difference over the course of a season. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. And in the battle for a Formula 1 title, every point gained or lost can be crucial.
And speaking of details, what could have made the difference for Norris was remembering past overtaking attempts between the final and first corner in previous editions of the Saudi Arabian GP.
Anyone who overtakes in the final corner exposes themselves to an almost inevitable counter-attack, as the overtaken driver can use the DRS on the main straight and nearly always regains the position. That’s exactly what happened twice in a row yesterday, with Norris being schooled by a struggling but mentally sharp Lewis Hamilton.
Attacked twice by Norris at the last corner, the Mercedes driver remembered previous duels with Max Verstappen in that section and deliberately let Norris through, only to activate DRS and reclaim the position at turn 1.
The first mistake could be forgiven, but Norris repeated the same move at the same spot twice before realizing he needed to overtake Hamilton elsewhere to avoid being re-passed by the seven-time World Champion.
Was it a pre-race strategy by the team? A lapse in focus? A lack of awareness of past race data? Or just overconfidence in the MCL39’s potential? What’s certain is that those two overtakes in the wrong place cost Norris more than three seconds — seconds that, in hindsight, could have been vital to catching Leclerc and launching a podium attack.
“I think if Lando hadn’t given DRS to Lewis twice in a row, allowing him to regain the position, he would have genuinely had a chance to take the podium at Jeddah,” said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella after the race. “When races are this close, and it comes down to just a few seconds between drivers, losing that time behind Lewis was a problem.”
“Of course, Lewis knows exactly how to race, so it took Lando some time to realize he needed to overtake him at turn 1 and not at the final corner.”
The behind-the-scenes moment between Norris and Piastri’s engineers
Beyond commenting on Norris’s double mistake, Andrea Stella also highlighted one of McLaren’s current strengths that makes them a benchmark team in Formula 1: collaboration.
After noticing Lando’s struggles to overtake Hamilton (again due to the poor choice of overtaking point at the final corner), Norris’ race engineer advised Piastri’s race engineer (Piastri had already pitted for Hards and dropped behind both Lando and Lewis) to pass Hamilton at turn 1 instead.
“I’d like to share a story — the story is that Lando’s race engineer proactively told Oscar’s race engineer: ‘We’re struggling to pass because we’ve tried twice at the last corner and he’s overtaken us again at turn 1.’ So he made sure Oscar knew and would try directly at turn 1. I was really proud to hear that. I didn’t have to ask for anything. I was just a spectator of a great example of team spirit and teamwork that we have at McLaren. So kudos to Will Joseph, to Tom Stallard, and to the pit wall team.”
“I also want to praise the work done by the mechanics, by Charlie Hooper, who leads operations in the garage, because yesterday’s crash — even though, you know, it was a tough one — required us to change practically every part of the car except the chassis and power unit. There’s always a bit of anxiety when so many parts need replacing and everything must be checked.”
“And once again, the car was ready to go, giving Lando the chance to score important points. So well done to Charlie, to everyone involved, and to all the mechanics who made sure the car was repaired and race-ready.”
Leave a Reply