After a successful start at the Singapore Grand Prix, Lando Norris seems to have removed doubts about his performance during Grand Prix starts, a phase of racing which had sometimes cost him dearly this season. However, according to McLaren boss Andrea Stella, these supposed problems were not as critical as they might seem, as he told Motorsport. “I do not dispute the fact that at first glance the starts and the general approach to the first corner and the first lap might have seemed like an opportunity [d’amélioration] for Lando,” Stella said. “But, after doing a little analysis with the team, including Lando, we reviewed all the starts and all the first laps done this season.” “And in In all honesty, even in cases where Lando started from pole position and he wasn’t in first position at the end of the first lap, we didn’t find that he actually performed poorly.” said the McLaren boss.
A lot of effort spent in this area
He took the example of the Spanish Grand Prix, where George Russell took the lead from the start: “We rewatched the Barcelona race and we think Russell would have been in first place even if Lando had tried something different,” added the McLaren boss. “There were a few missed opportunities in terms of the execution of the start, but we recognize that this was also the responsibility of the team.” “For example, I think it was at Zandvoort, where both cars had cold tires because of a problem [causé par] the team, and both cars did not get off to a good start. So I think at first glance it seemed like Lando had [raté] an important opportunity, but in reality the circumstances were not so simple”, expresses Stella. McLaren and Norris have therefore redoubled their efforts to improve in this area: “We definitely focused on executing the start and preparing the tires, Lando himself [est concentré]and even the time we spend preparing for departure over a weekend is now more important”, explained the Italian before continuing: “You gain confidence. And you get familiar with starting from pole position and understanding, even in terms of defense, what you have to do, even to dissuade other drivers from trying [de prendre la tête]. So I think that’s part of this journey, and it’s a good thing that we’re now facing these kinds of opportunities.” It remains to be seen whether these efforts will pay off in the next races.
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To summarize
After a successful start at the Singapore Grand Prix, Lando Norris seems to have removed doubts about his performance during Grand Prix starts. However, according to the McLaren boss, these supposed problems were not as critical as they might seem.
