McLaren’s pit stop struggles continue, Piastri suffers again in Singapore
In recent races, McLaren has faced significant difficulties during pit stops. The issues began to emerge around July, initially drawing little attention. After all, any team can experience an off weekend. However, as the season progressed, these incidents started to accumulate. The most noticeable, also from a media perspective, was Lando Norris’ pit stop at Monza—but it was far from the only one.
At the Singapore Grand Prix, another pit stop problem occurred, though it received far less attention. This time, it affected the world championship leader, Oscar Piastri. The incident went largely unnoticed because the Australian spent the entire race behind his teammate Lando Norris, following the widely discussed overtake at the start.
When both drivers came in for their pit stops, McLaren called in Norris first, managing to get him back on track in just 2.10 seconds (the second fastest pit stop of the weekend, behind only Red Bull, which changed Yuki Tsunoda’s tires in 2.05 seconds). Piastri, however, took over three seconds longer to cross the pit lane. According to the FIA document released after the race, Piastri’s total pit lane time was 26.6 seconds (including the tire change, which was not separately recorded), compared to 23.3 seconds for Norris.
Could McLaren be intentionally withholding references?
Some might speculate that McLaren has a deliberate strategy. Beyond testing new procedures, as we suggested after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix—given that they are fighting Red Bull for second place in the pit stop championship (Red Bull 280 points, McLaren 274)—the team may have found a way to prevent its drivers from engaging in battles immediately after leaving the pits.
We know that racing right out of the pit lane is far from optimal. Tires are cold, adrenaline is high, and the risk of mistakes or creating a mess increases significantly. Slowing one driver to create a gap and prevent an immediate on-track battle could be an internal strategy—a plausible theory—but it does not explain all the recent incidents.
The events at Monza, for example, defy any logical reasoning. The team botched the pit stop for the driver who, at that moment, had the best chance of winning the race or at least challenging Max Verstappen. Then they asked the world championship leader to slow down and yield position to his teammate.
In such situations, it is impossible to find a logical explanation. Perhaps McLaren does everything and its opposite just to destabilize its competitors. By withholding clear points of reference, the team hides its true intentions while keeping rivals guessing.
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