Driving the fastest car on the grid is not synonymous with guaranteed victory. This is what we witnessed today: to triumph in the Spanish GP it wasn't Lando Norris, but Max Verstappen who proves once again that to beat him and Red Bull you have to be perfect in every respect.
Norris himself is aware of having lost the race, especially at the beginning due to the bad start which relegated him to third position. Piastri, however, due to his bad qualifying, was forced into a comeback race, arriving in P7.
Taking into account the order of arrival of the Spanish GP, Lando Norris conquers second position from Charles Leclerc in drivers ranking.
Spanish GP 2024, how did McLaren's race go?
Both McLaren drivers decide to start with new red tyres. At the start, Norris closes the gap to Verstappen, but leaves an opening for Russell who takes advantage of the clean part of the track to brake late and overtake the two arguing. The Spanish GP starts off uphill for Norris forced to chase Russell and Verstappen. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri tries to recover and catch up with the others in front.
Around round 16 the pit stops of the top team. McLaren decides to let the English driver stay out, who will then return on lap 23. With the pit stop he finds himself behind Sainz but, having the advantage of a newer compound, he finds no obstacle in the Ferrari in obvious difficulty. He then overtook Hamilton and became the protagonist of a splendid battle with George Russell for second position.
The race proceeds regularly until the time comes for the second pit stop. Max stops first, Norris waits a few laps. Both will mount the tire soft. In the final, the English McLaren driver will try to catch Verstappen, but there's no luck: the Dutch champion is still the winner!
Anonymous race for Piastri, forced to fight with the Alpine and Perez due to the track position not very favourable.
Let's see the words of the McLaren drivers.
GP Spain 2024, Plates: “A difficult weekend”
In the post-race interviews an Oscar Piastri was saddened by the weekend difficult. The Australian never turned on during this Spanish weekend and, while his teammate fought for victory, Oscar had to fight with the Alpines and Perez.
“To be honest, I've had problems all weekend, since the first lap, and I need to understand why. There were encouraging things, but I'm happy that this weekend is over."
“The car was less predictable than usual. The potential of the single-seater is there (looking at Norris' performance, ed), I need to figure out why I can't unlock it. The second part of the race was still positive, but when you start so low, it's difficult.".
![McLaren GP Spain race](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_0934-jpg.webp)
The usually rational Oscar Piastri offers us a detailed description of what happened in the race. In fact, it seems that the class of 2001 has not yet exploited the potential of its MCL38. While his teammate is constantly fighting for the pole position and the victory, apart from Monte Carlo, the Australian driver has always struggled against his teammate.
The Spanish GP will be useful for Piastri so that he can understand what the problem is. Solving this dilemma is of vital importance for a team as ambitious as McLaren, especially if you want to climb the Constructors' rankings.
About his race: “I think our strategy made us believe we were better than we actually were. We extended the first stint and at the end we put on the softs so everything looked better. There were some good laps, but overall it was difficult."
“Extending my stint was the best way to get back in, we would have had more options with the Safety Cars. I was surprised that everyone stopped so early in the first stint, but for us that was our plan.”
Spanish GP 2024, Norris: “I had to win this race”
Despite a superior pace compared to Red Bull, Norris sees another victory slip away after the one in Canada.
“This is a test and a competition from which I can only learn. I had to win this race, but I left bad”, begins Norris, referring to the bad start that relegated him to third place.
“The car was incredible and very fast so I'm disappointed not to win. There are clearly positive sides, but the result should have been better. However, I thank the team for the work and for the material they made available to me."
![McLaren GP Spain race](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_0878-jpg.webp)
Returning to the episode of the departure, Norris is unable to explain how he could have ruined the pole position conquered yesterday with so much effort.
“I'm not sure what I did wrong at the start, I found Max on one side and George on the outside and I found myself in a bit of a bind. Congratulations to Max and Red Bull, but this time we could have been ahead of him." However, Austria is one of my favorite tracks, I have always done well and we can continue to do well and improve the bar,” concludes Norris.
Crediti foto: McLaren