Stella: McLaren may have steered Norris away from an intermediate stop at Sepang

After the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at Sepang, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team lost race time with both cars after misjudging when slicks would become faster than intermediates. He also said McLaren may have nudged Lando Norris away from an intermediate stop the driver was probably considering.

McLaren planned to start both cars on medium tyres. Piastri switched to intermediates during the start sequence, giving up his grid position, while Norris stayed on dry tyres. Both later pitted for hard tyres behind the Safety Car at the end of lap nine.

Stella said the team had seen the intermediates wearing quickly on the laps to the grid. Sepang’s tendency to dry quickly and its rough surface made a slick start look viable, but slicks took more laps to work than McLaren expected.

Stella said the different calls were not a deliberate split to test both options: McLaren was unsure how long slicks would take to work. He thought Piastri had expected them to take time. Norris said after the race that he had been convinced slicks would work and thought Piastri probably made the right call to pit.

Piastri finished sixth and Norris ninth; the Briton scored two points. Piastri said McLaren had not made all the right calls, but that its bigger problem was a lack of pace.