The competition at the Spanish Grand Prix has left a bittersweet taste for McLaren driver Lando Norris. The team’s director, Andrea Stella, stated that the impossibility of overtaking at the new Madring circuit was decisive for his defeat this weekend.
Norris, who achieved pole position, opened a six-second gap during the early laps. However, his strategy was affected when the virtual safety car was activated, leaving him too far from the pits to make a stop.
After a seven-second stop, Norris found himself 16 seconds behind Kimi Antonelli. As the race progressed, he managed to reduce the gap to reach second place, but he could not make any maneuvers to overtake his rivals.
Stella explained that the stop did not influence the final result of the driver and emphasized the need to rectify the stops in the future. In addition, he pointed out that, regardless of the speed of his stop, the scenario did not allow for overtaking, especially in corner 5, which proved tricky for maneuvers.
The circuit recorded only ten overtaking attempts throughout the race, the lowest number of the 2026 season. This figure is lower than that of the Monaco circuit, which had 11, showing that the design of the circuit can be problematic.
Stella expressed his concern over the lack of overtakes and suggested that it is necessary for F1 to consider modifications to the layout to facilitate these maneuvers, as it is currently virtually impossible for two cars to enter the same corner simultaneously. His belief is that, if not, Norris would have had the opportunity to regain the lead with the pace he had shown.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_83fae555c551690a50a79acb809ad6500e9c1f22