McLaren reveals reason behind strategy mishap at Qatar Grand Prix

Speaking to GPblog in the aftermath of the Lusail Circuit race, the 54-year-old admitted his team conceded a pit stop to their rivals, adding that the decision was made to avoid pitting into traffic.

“Effectively, we conceded one pit stop to a rival who was fast today. Obviously, we did it for a reason,” Stella began.

“The reason was that we didn't want to end up in traffic after the pit stop, but obviously, all the other cars and teams had a different opinion regarding a safety car on lap seven,” the McLaren boss added.

Stella also noted that Max Verstappen’s pace and low tyre degradation influenced McLaren’s decision-making on the pitwall.

“Everyone pitted, and this made our decision to stay out ultimately incorrect from a race outcome point of view. As I said, because [Max] Verstappen was fast and tyre degradation was low, this decision was significantly penalising, as clearly Oscar [Piastri] was in control of the race and deserved to win it, and we also lost the podium with Lando [Norris],” he concluded.

The strategy error came after the seventh-lap safety car, triggered by a collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly. By not pitting, McLaren missed the opportunity to challenge Verstappen for victory.

In his assessment of the Qatar race, Norris supported McLaren’s strategy. The British driver stressed the team made the right call, considering the pit stop would have been unusually early in the race.

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