McLaren get F1 reality check that Norris and Piastri need urgent problem fixed

31 July 2023 , 13:20

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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's expectations have risen with McLaren's improvements (Image: AP)

Andrea Stella declared his McLaren team needs to put in "urgent work" after a disappointing Belgian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris finished seventh in the race which, earlier in this season, would have been seen as an excellent result. But the team's expectations have shifted since their performance improvements were verified.

A significant upgrade package spread out over a few weeks led to back-to-back podiums for Norris at Silverstone and in Budapest. And Oscar Piastri was also threatening the top three.

The Formula 1 rookie led a few laps of the Belgium Sprint and finished second, sparking hopes of another eye-catching weekend. But his Grand Prix was over on the first lap after a collision with Carlos Sainz, meaning he left with zero points.

Norris struggled in the first stint and dropped out of the points, only to work his way back up into them by the end. Summing up the weekend, team principal Stella feels McLaren have learned where they need to swiftly focus their attention.

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"This weekend told us that where we could do work," said the Italian. "The car is improved in some areas. This was confirmed. But, at the same time, this weekend confirmed the areas that we haven't addressed yet.

"[It] gives us a reality check that there's more work to do and, to some extent, confirms that those areas, they need to be addressed quite urgently.

Oscar Piastri picked up terminal damage at the start of the race at Spa (Sky Sports)

"This urgency, for instance, comes from the fact that a second race after [the summer] shutdown is Monza. You can't go racing in Monza like [we did in Spa]. So, there's urgent work that needs to happen at McLaren to fix the situation."

All the work put into their upgrades in such a short space of time meant there was no low-drag specification to run with at Spa, which ultimately hampered their pace in the Grand Prix. "While this configuration gave us an advantage in the previous days, [the GP] was starting to be a significant issue," Stella added.

"Overall, let's say there's some learning we take out of this weekend. I think the opportunity to remark is not like we necessarily wanted to target this configuration. Fixing the efficiency of the car at low drag is on the to-do list. But it was lower than some of the priorities that we have worked on in the previous months."

Daniel Moxon