McLaren strategist explains CONTROVERSIAL Silverstone strategy call

Norris, McLaren, podium, Silverstone, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

Lando Norris

McLaren strategist explains CONTROVERSIAL Silverstone strategy call

Lando Norris claimed a deserved P2 finish at the British Grand Prix, but a conservative strategy call nearly cost the Briton dear

Harry Smith

Wednesday 12 July 2023 19:27

McLaren's chief strategist, Randeep 'Randy' Singh has explained the rationale behind the controversial decision to pit Lando Norris for hard tyres under safety car conditions.

The home hero was running P2 at the time of the safety car having briefly taken the lead from Max Verstappen on the opening lap.

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Norris' team-mate, Oscar Piastri, was on course for a convincing rookie podium, but he came out worse off after the safety car, filtering out behind Lewis Hamilton.

With Hamilton on soft compound tyres and Norris on hards, fans were left with a nailbiting finale as the two British drivers battled for the second spot on the podium.

McLaren's man eventually won out as Hamilton's soft tyres fell off while following in the dirty air of Norris' car.

No room for risk at McLaren

Addressing the decision to pit Norris for hard tyres in the McLaren strategy debrief, Singh explained: "When the track went VSC there was always a risk it could turn into a full SC – but at the point we had to make a decision, it was a VSC, and under the VSC, we were happy to fit the hard tyres.

"We called the pit-crew out and – perhaps unfortunately – the track changed to SC just after the point at which we had committed."

Singh then explained that the team had the opportunity to reverse their decision, but wanted to play it safe given the points at stake.

Norris held onto P2 despite the controversial call to pit him for hard compound tyres

“Lando was coming out of Stowe, about to take the pit-entry, we were already out in the pit-lane with the hard tyres.

"We couldn’t risk him going around for another lap, and equally, we couldn’t risk the confusion and potential delay of having the pit-crew swap the hard tyres they had ready for a set of softs.

"Had the track changed a few seconds earlier, then yes, we would probably have fitted soft tyres.”