F1 pundit believes McLaren borrowed a clever trick from Red Bull as Piastri beats Verstappen to pole

11:51, 26 Jul

Updated: 11:52, 26 Jul

Co-author:Samson Ero

byTim Kraaij

Oscar Piastri convincingly secured pole position for the sprint race in Belgium, leaving Max Verstappen with no real answer. According to Olav Mol, McLaren’s performance gain may be down to them adopting a clever tactic previously used by Red Bull Racing.

“What McLaren seems to have done now, in my opinion, is what all the other years share. If you divide the track into the three sectors, Verstappen always had the key in that middle sector. He sacrificed top speed because they already had a ‘surplus’ then, but they don’t have that anymore,” Olav Mol stated on the Ziggo Sport Race Café.

“So, they have to run less wing to gain top speed. Thus, Max wins three-tenths in sector 1 but loses six or seven-tenths in sector 2. If he drives with that wing to make up for it in sector 2, he won’t come up on the straight track at all anymore.”

What trick has McLaren pulled?

This was evident in the top speed data released by the FIA. While Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen were quicker on the straights than the two McLaren drivers, they still lost significant ground over the course of a full lap.

“They have so much wing, they sacrifice so much top speed, but they almost double that win in the middle sector. That used to be a Red Bull trick, but they don't have the power at the moment,” the commentator concluded.

For Saturday’s sprint race, Max Verstappen could take advantage of his straight-line speed at the start. Although DRS isn’t available on the opening lap, he might be able to slipstream past Piastri. Whether he can stay ahead after that, however, remains to be seen.