Andrea Stella admits ‘incorrect judgment’ ruined McLaren's Bahrain GP
The McLaren Team Principal accepts responsibility after a miscalculated tyre gamble left Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri outside the top five.
McLaren’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia did not go as well as the team would have expected, as they did not finish in the top five in the race.
After the Grand Prix, Lando Norris admitted he had been dealing with a 'painful' straight-line speed issue, as well as running off track at Turn 1 in the latter stages of the race, which saw him finish in ninth place.
On the other side of the garage, Oscar Piastri narrowly missed out on the top five as he managed to salvage a sixth-place finish.
McLaren’s issues began at the start of the race, when they decided to start both drivers on slick tyres, which Team Principal Andrea Stella has confirmed was ‘incorrect judgement’ from the team.
Piastri made the early decision to pit for intermediate tyres, which gave him an advantage over Norris, who was influenced by the team to stay out on slick tyres rather than switching to the more suitable intermediate tyres.
When speaking to the media, Stella discussed his drivers' strategies from the early stages of the race, "It wasn't as simple as splitting.
"It was more the uncertainty as to how much it would take for the dry tyres to start to work. And as a matter of fact, it took longer than what we thought it would take.
“So ultimately it was an incorrect judgment as to the crossover at which the dry tyres would be faster than the intermediate tyres.
"But there was no logic as simple as saying let's split and let's see which one is right. We thought that the dry tyres would switch on faster.
“I think for Oscar, it was sort of Oscar himself thinking like it's not going to be rapid, and I think with Lando, it's possible that we biased Lando in the wrong direction.
“I think it was probably more in the direction that he should have pitted for inters, but as we discussed, we kind of attempted to see whether we could stay out on the medium tyres."
The team now heads to the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the Singapore Grand Prix, where the team secured third and fourth-place finishes during the 2025 season.
