McLaren’s Bahrain Grand Prix did not go as well as the team would have expected, failing to finish in the top five in the race. As Crash.net reports, the root of the trouble was an admitted tactical error on the pit wall that compromised the entire afternoon for the squad.
Everything went sideways right from the lights out when the team decided to start both drivers on slick tyres. Team Principal Andrea Stella has since confirmed this was an incorrect judgment regarding when the dry rubber would actually become faster than the intermediate tyres. Stella explained to the media that the team fundamentally miscalculated how long the dry tyres would take to switch on.
On the pit wall, the call was not a deliberate split in strategies just to cover the bases. Instead, the team genuinely believed the dry tyres would fire up quickly. That miscalculation hit Lando Norris directly. Influenced by the team to stay out on slick tyres rather than swapping over, Norris missed out on the more suitable intermediate rubber. On the other side of the garage, Oscar Piastri made the early decision to pit for intermediate tyres on his own initiative. That proactive call gave him a crucial advantage over his teammate.
When the checkered flag fell, the damage was done. Piastri managed to salvage a sixth-place finish, narrowly missing out on the top five. Norris, meanwhile, crossed the line in ninth place. To compound a difficult race, Norris admitted afterward that he had been dealing with a painful straight-line speed issue alongside running off track at Turn 1 in the latter stages of the race.
Now, the team heads to the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the Singapore Grand Prix. They will be looking to bounce back at a venue where they secured third and fourth-place finishes during the 2025 season.
