Lando Norris experienced slow pit stops in both Monza and Baku due to a wheel not being properly secured. McLaren engineers in Woking are reviewing their procedures to prevent similar mistakes in the future. Meanwhile, the hardware and control software performed flawlessly, avoiding more serious issues despite the delays.
The team carefully analyzed both pit stops that negatively impacted Norris’ performance in the last two races, Monza and Baku. While the papaya team holds the record for the fastest tire change in F1 at 1.80 seconds in Qatar 2023, they also recorded three of the quickest pit stops of the 2025 season.
However, in the last two events, the team faced unusually slow stops that affected Norris’ race results, even though the MCL39 was not particularly competitive in Italy or Azerbaijan.
At Monza, after a record-fast 1.91-second stop for Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris’ pit stop took an unusually long 5.87 seconds. The left-front wheel mechanic had not switched the direction of the wheel gun, leaving it in the unscrewing position. It was clearly a human error. Once the mechanic corrected the gun to the proper clockwise rotation, the MCL39 could leave the pit box safely, albeit delayed.
This was not an isolated incident. During the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a similar issue occurred on Norris’ car. He stopped on lap 37 for his sole scheduled pit stop, and this time the problem arose with the right-front wheel mechanic.
McLaren technicians confirmed there were no faults with the hardware or software but are reviewing pit stop procedures. It’s important to highlight that the control systems functioned perfectly. In both Monza and Baku, the car never left the jacks prematurely because electronic alarms detected the wheel anomaly.
The McLaren software protected Norris by preventing the car from being released until the wheel was properly secured. Without this safeguard, Norris could have faced an unsafe release or even the risk of retirement due to a wheel coming off while returning to the track.
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