After two narrowly missed victories, Lando Norris is aiming for the top step of the podium this weekend in Austria, on a circuit he likes. Will Verstappen steal the show again?
WILL NORRIS BE ABLE TO WIN THIS TIME?
At the end of the last two Grands Prix, Lando Norris had the feeling of having narrowly missed victory. In Canada, he made the wrong decision to pit on the same lap as his rivals and lost the race at that point. In Spain last weekend, he missed his start and was passed by Max Verstappen and George Russell, which compromised his race despite a good comeback.
While it’s not as fast as the Red Bull in fast corners (due to higher drag and lower straight-line speed), while it doesn’t have the Ferrari’s suspension compliance, the MCL38 performs well in fast and slow corners, whether there are curbs or not. Driving a McLaren that seems to be at home on all types of circuits, Lando Norris can aim for victory on a circuit that. he appreciates and on which he has always performed very well.
WILL FERRARI GET OUT OF THE SPIRAL OF FAILURE?
Of course, F1 cars all have their own characteristics and are more or less efficient depending on the circuit. But to aim for the world crown, you need to have a single-seater that is fast on all types of circuits.
This is what Red Bull (for three seasons, with a little less success this year) and McLaren have managed to do this year. At the start of the season, Ferrari had a versatile machine, but it seems that the developments introduced at Imola and Barcelona have made the SF-24 more advanced.
Its suspension and engine make it a high-performance machine on slow tracks with short turns (like Bahrain, Melbourne and Monaco). On the other hand, the SF-24 is less competitive on circuits with long turns negotiated at high speed, such as Jeddah, Suzuka, Shanghai and Barcelona, where it had to raise the attitude to limit pumping…
WHAT HAPPENS TO ALONSO?
After an exceptional 2023 campaign, Aston Martin is falling into line. Last year, Mercedes and Ferrari missed their single-seater by wrongly retaining their concept, which allowed Aston Martin to do well, before being overtaken by McLaren.
This year, as the two top teams have rectified the situation and regained their natural rank, and McLaren has confirmed its exceptional recovery, which makes it the equal of Red Bull, Lawrence Stroll’s team has mechanically lost ground. The AMR24 suffers in particular from understeer at the apex point in long turns.
Which does not please the competitive matador, who made a bitter declaration in the press (in substance: Aston Martin would do better to work rather than multiply the announcements), to which the team responded by voice from its main team:
“There are five races in six weeks, justifies Mick Krack. We learned a lot about our weaknesses after Monaco, Imola and Montreal (where we scored 14 points), but it’s about correcting them. But we don’t have time to do that. So we have to hang on and get the most out of the car while waiting for new parts.”
Not sure that this will re-motivate Alonso who for the first time seems tired of the competition.
