McLaren couldn't 'create conditions' to beat Max due to surprise advantage loss

16:38, 19 May

Updated: 18:57, 19 May

byNorberto Mujica

Whereas until Sunday right before the race McLaren seemed like the favourite to take the win at Imola, against all odds, it ended up being Max Verstappen who took the honours, and the papaya coloured team's boss, Andrea Stella, knows why.

It was remarkable, Verstappen went for a daring move around the outside at Turn 2 and took the lead. From then on the Dutchman could stretch out his legs in the revamped RB21 and start eeking out a lead to runner-up Oscar Piastri, whose tyres, unlike in Miami, started falling apart quite early on.

"Well, I think at the time Oscar's tyres were going off by a good chunk and Oscar was passing some feedback that that was the case," Stella said to media like GPblog after the race.

Max Verstappen takes the lead in Imola at Tamburello

Pirelli's tyre allocation made it hard for McLaren at Imola

Pirelli's aggressive tyre allocation also played a hand in McLaren's defeat, notes Stella, as the hard tyre and Piastri's MCL39 did not seem to gel well.

"It was unclear entering this event whether it would have been a one or a two [stopper]. If it was a two that was the time to go and if the hard tyres had behaved just a little bit better then the two would have been a very strong strategy. Despite having to overtake some other cars."

"But once he went on hard tyres, actually it wasn't much faster than Lando and Max that stayed out on the used medium. So I think the hard tyres were a little less competitive than we thought."

Stella then delved into why McLaren's pitwall chose to split the strategies between their both drivers, with one main reason above all: beating Verstappen.

"We needed to deviate and create the condition to beat Max today so I think this is something that you can only judge in hindsight but if you deviate that was the time to go for a two-stop."

"No regrets and ultimately, just for the team, is the same outcome and for Oscar it could have been the way to win and sometimes when you take some risks to win there may be a little bit of a downside."

The gap Piastri holds over rivalVerstappen in the championship is only of 22 points as F1 heads toMonacofor the crown jewel of the calendar.