Lewis Hamilton has expressed his belief that McLaren's strategy at the recent Italian Grand Prix led them to throw away a potential victory. The former McLaren driver reflected on the race after observing how Ferrari's Charles Leclerc managed to secure the win with just one pit stop, contrasting with McLaren's two-stop approach.
"Looking at the race trace, I think McLaren had the pace, they just pushed too hard," said Hamilton. He elaborated on the implications of their early aggressive laps, stating, "They were doing much too fast laps early on and killed their tyres."
Hamilton feels that McLaren's strategists were too fixated on the predetermined two-stop plan. "I guess they literally had planned for a two-stop," he commented, adding that this might have influenced their decision-making throughout the race. "That's why they were pushing so hard."
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The strategic misstep was evident in the timing of Lando Norris's pit stop, as McLaren appeared eager to 'undercut' Leclerc, who had been battling for position with Norris right before entering the pits. This haste denied the team an opportunity to reassess their strategy.
Oscar Piastri, who also pitted twice during the race, noted that their early pace wasn't entirely detrimental. "I need to go back and look at what the graining level on Charles was when I pitted for the second time," he mentioned. Piastri recognized that a different approach could have altered their outcome. "There are things we could have done a bit differently from obviously a strategy point of view, but also a driving point of view to keep the options open a little bit more."
After the race, Piastri concluded with a sense of caution regarding their aggressive strategy. "Given that in practice when that happened you basically couldn’t hit the brake pedal because you turned your front left into a 50 pence coin, it seemed like a very risky thing to do."
Norris echoed similar sentiments regarding the race dynamics. He acknowledged Leclerc’s skillful management of his front-left tyre, which played a critical role in executing the one-stop strategy successfully. “We tried, we knew it was a quicker thing to do, but I think we just killed the tyres a little bit too easily,” he noted. Norris attributed part of Leclerc's success to the less risky position he was in, stating, “I don’t think we can be too disappointed. It was a lot riskier for us to try and do it than it was for Charles, and he made it work.”
While both McLaren drivers recognized the challenges faced, Leclerc’s intelligent racecraft proved pivotal in his triumph. This highlighted the importance of not only strategy but also the execution during critical laps of the race.
As the season progresses, McLaren will need to reflect on the valuable insights gained from this race. Balancing aggressive tactics while maintaining tire integrity will be crucial for future races. The 2024 Italian Grand Prix served as a reminder that, in the high-stakes world of Formula 1, small decisions can have dramatic consequences on the podium standings.
