McLaren approached the Chinese Grand Prix with caution regarding their expectations, but ultimately secured the runner-up position with Lando Norris on race day.
Andrea Stella, the team principal of McLaren, shed light on the elements that led to Lando Norris’ impressive podium finish in China. Prior to the event’s return to the Shanghai International Circuit, Stella emphasized that it would be a round focused on “damage limitation” for the Woking-based team.
Despite this perspective, McLaren showcased strong performance throughout the race weekend. Norris demonstrated his prowess by clinching the top spot in sprint qualifying and then securing second place in the grand prix. Remarkably, this marked the 24-year-old’s second podium appearance in just three races.
Stella elaborated on several factors contributing to Norris’ strong pace, highlighting the performance of the front tires on the track. “I think it’s a circuit in which there wasn’t much front limitation,” Stella conveyed to the media.
“Since we went to the wide tyres, China doesn’t seem to be as difficult for the front tyres as it was in the past. At the same time, I think the conditions helped retain grip on the rear because the rear axle, especially [in the race], was not overheating.”
Stella added: “If we look at the sprint, we had a bit of overheating. Ferrari seemed to be more comfortable, Max had a huge advantage. I think you have these situations when there’s degradation.
“But [the grand prix] was more under control. So I think we struggle a little bit more at from limited circuit and here it wasn’t. The rear axle was actually under control because of the cold conditions.
“So a little bit of a combination of factors, which helped the performance of our car.”
Stella mentioned that the new regulation regarding opening parc fermé conditions following the sprint race contributed to McLaren’s race pace.
“I think also some tweaks we made to the set-up after the sprint, they did help the race pace, because we changed the car with a view to improve in the race pace, rather than qualifying,” he said.
“So we were actually surprised to see that still in qualifying we were decent. But it looks like it did help with the race. So multiple factors, not a single silver bullet.”
