“It’s the closing of a circle that started a year ago when we won our first victory here in Miami,” Andrea Stella enjoys the moment, and rightly so. McLaren achieved the most decisive victory in the “Papaya” era in Miami, completing a weekend with two “doubles” that highlight impressive technical superiority. There is another factor that contributes to making McLaren’s current period idyllic, and that is the more than acceptable relationship between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. A technical dominance with drivers having the same ambitions comes with the challenge of managing both sides of the garage, but so far, the Stella-Brown tandem has everything under control.
The Miami double was crushing. After a close encounter with Verstappen in Turn 2 after the start, Norris fell to sixth, with Piastri in second behind Max. Neither car started the race in clean air, but when the superiority is this overwhelming, the competitors stand no chance. Verstappen’s extreme defense against Piastri lasted fourteen laps, and Norris’ recovery to second place took eighteen. From that point, both McLaren cars pulled away, and as if the technical gap wasn’t enough, both Piastri and Norris benefited from pit stops under a virtual safety car. The 37 seconds recovered by Russell (third at the checkered flag) were real, as George also took advantage of the VSC for his tire change.
“The gap to our competitors surprised us,” commented Andrea Stella. “I thought we would have an advantage in tire management, but not to the extent we saw.” Miami confirmed the most discussed technical theme of the first quarter of the season: the more critical tire management becomes, the more the MCL39 pulls ahead. “Our car is very good at maintaining the tires in an optimal temperature window, avoiding overheating. Behind all of this is excellent engineering. We’ve analyzed all the factors that influence tire behavior, and I want to take the opportunity to praise the work of McLaren engineers in identifying these factors, mastering one of the most elusive aspects of Formula 1, tire management.”
“There is also another aspect that stands out, especially when temperatures are high,” continued Andrea Stella. “Our car is relatively closed off from the bodywork perspective thanks to excellent design in the cooling system in relation to the car’s layout. I believe that in the conditions we saw today, McLaren’s engineering excellence reached a point where it could make the difference.”
Driver discussion: Piastri left Miami with his fourth win of the season, and a leadership that is starting to look increasingly defined, even in the overall standings, where his points lead over Norris increased to sixteen, while his gap to Max Verstappen is exactly double. But it’s not just a matter of numbers. Oscar’s gem of the weekend was how he handled his battle with Max, the same obstacle encountered by Norris. Oscar Piastri dealt with it much more efficiently. “It wasn’t easy,” Oscar admitted. “But I chose the right moment. I knew we had excellent pace from the start, so I knew I would pass Max, but I couldn’t know how long it would take. I wanted to do it as efficiently as possible. I couldn’t wait too long because Lando was coming fast behind me, so I assessed where it would be best to attack, and I did it decisively.”
Norris compromised his chances of victory in the early stages of the race, attempting to overtake Verstappen on the outside of Turn 2. “In hindsight, it would have been better for Lando to hold second place because the car, with the benefit of hindsight, would have still allowed him to pass Max shortly after. That said, I also like to see Lando being aggressive. Sometimes it’s just a matter of a fraction of a second or centimeters. Today, the stewards decided no action was needed, but Verstappen’s move was definitely on the limit.”
After the race, Norris seemed less disappointed than expected. In the end, the eighteen points secured under the checkered flag were still a good haul given the risks he took early on. But Lando didn’t hold back a jab at Verstappen: “He fought too hard, but that’s not racing intelligently. We could have probably finished in first and second.” A reasonable, but inaccurate assessment; against the two McLarens, no matter how things had gone, Verstappen wouldn’t have had any chance. For all the competitors, Max included, the best possible result in Miami would have been third place.
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