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Motorsport

Has McLaren just scored an own goal in Qatar GP? Our writers have their say

Qatar McLaren Lando Norris Max Verstappen Oscar Piastri Qatar GP (Event) Abu Dhabi F1 LAT Images the Qatar GP (Event)

McLaren’s call not to pit Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris during the safety car period gave Max Verstappen the chance to charge to Qatar Grand Prix victory and set up a Formula 1 title decider.

Verstappen has cut the deficit to Norris to 12 points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, with Piastri now third and 16 points behind his McLaren team-mate.

The Qatar GP outcome appeared to hinge on McLaren’s decision not to pit either of its drivers, while effectively the entire grid pitted on the lap seven after the safety car was called out for a clash between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly. The strategy backfired as Verstappen won, Piastri dropped to second and Norris fell to fourth.

So, has McLaren made another major error in the F1 title race? Our writers have their say.

McLaren has let Verstappen into the F1 title fight – Filip Cleeren

There are some parallels here between McLaren's strategy disaster in Qatar and its double disqualification in Las Vegas. Yes, there were mitigating factors but all the other cars that were checked were legal.

Yes, a safety car always makes a decision tougher for the lead car, but pretty much everyone else seems to have made the right call. And while Piastri's no-pit decision is one thing, Norris could have surely followed Verstappen into the pits.

Given Qatar's unusual but well-known strategy outlook dictated by the mandatory two-stop, I would be shocked if McLaren hadn't accounted for that exact safety car scenario - in fact, teams will have a playbook for a safety car coming out on any given lap.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren (Photo by: Dom Gibbons / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Add in the importance of track position and I simply don't understand how Verstappen was given a free pitstop, and even if Piastri had had enough of a pace advantage, getting past the Red Bull would have been fanciful at best.

There is no right for Verstappen to be let into this title fight, yet here he is, and he would be a well-deserved champion given how he has driven. I'm not saying Norris or Piastri deserve to lose it, but McLaren is letting its drivers down too much given the pace its car has.

McLaren is crumbling under the pressure of the title fight, not the drivers – Haydn Cobb

McLaren’s Las Vegas GP double disqualification for excessive plank wear led to the team apologising to both Norris and Piastri. McLaren’s strategy blunder in the Qatar GP will see the squad repeating those words one week on.

The decision not to pit either, or both, of its drivers just didn’t make sense at the time. And immediately after it, even less sense, after effectively the entire grid behind them dived into the pitlane to take advantage of the perfectly timed safety car. It allowed Verstappen and co. to commit to two 25-lap stints to reach the finish under the one-off tyre maximum stint rules.

Why didn’t McLaren pit? Strategy flexibility was one reason given during the race, but that small silver lining taken for losing track position and giving Verstappen free air, which he used to power to victory, at a circuit where both those elements were key just made no sense.

The drivers have made their share of mistakes this season: Norris clattering into Piastri in Canada, Piastri hitting Norris in the Austin sprint and then crashing all by himself in the Brazil sprint stand out.

But when the pressure has cranked up across the triple-header finale, it is the team that is letting the drivers down.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren (Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Focus on parity misses the point of racing - Owen Bellwood

McLaren messed up big time with its strategy call in Qatar. Not bringing either driver in when the entire rest of the field dove into the pits in the lap seven safety car period left Piastri and Norris fighting for the win with one arm tied behind their backs.

With all the data at its disposal and the knowledge of how close its drivers were with title rival Verstappen, leaving both drivers out in the cold was a big mistake. If McLaren wasn’t certain that waiting would lead to a win, it should have split the strategy between its two racers.

Acting in the way that almost every other team would, by giving the lead driver the first call, would have almost certainly secured a 204th race win for the team. And when the focus of Formula 1 is on chasing every win instead of parity between drivers, this should have been the goal all along.

Verstappen’s title now looks more than real – Oleg Karpov

What is happening is truly remarkable to witness. The way McLaren has been losing its points advantage over Verstappen in recent months is… there’s hardly a word for it. Las Vegas was a disaster, and all the debate about a disqualification for a “minor” technical breach being a disproportionate penalty probably shows McLaren focusing on all the wrong things. No other team failed the post-race technical checks in Vegas, and the papaya squad can only blame itself.

The same has to be said about Qatar, too. The decision not to pit under the safety car is difficult to explain, as it effectively left both drivers needing two mandatory stops against one for their main rival. Again, McLaren was effectively the only team to leave cars on track… and again, there is no one else to blame.

The gap between Norris and Verstappen is now just 12 points – and with Verstappen looking so relaxed and confident, it almost feels like he, not Norris, is the title favourite. The nervousness is felt throughout the whole organisation at McLaren. Drivers, engineers, strategists – all seem affected and unable to cope with the pressure.

Andrea Stella, McLaren (Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Are papaya rules causing the team to panic? – Ben Vinel

I previously argued that McLaren shouldn’t favour Norris over Piastri in the title race in order to keep things fair between two drivers who have a realistic chance to become champion.

But this was just unnecessary. Either McLaren was unprepared for this scenario, which would be more than surprising from the team, or they panicked as they realised the implications in terms of ‘papaya rules’.

But in that case, the only reasonable call was to double-stack them, even if Norris took a minor loss compared to Piastri. Because the final result today could have been far, far worse than second and fourth.