2024 Italian Grand Prix - [POST RACE] discussion thread 🏁
FORMULA 1 PIRELLI GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA 2024
Look I don't want to sound like a downer and I'm happy for Charles and all, but it's hard not to have severe frustration at McLaren as your main takeaway from this race. They're being complete idiots and I simply don't understand it. Piastri should not be attacking Norris on lap one, he should protect him. Team orders suck, but you have to be ruthless if you want to be champion. But maybe they just don't care about winning?
I'm at least happy Albon got two good points, even though it was thanks to Magnusson's bone-headed penalty as Haas successfully undercut him. Shame Alonso missed out on a point by 19 hundreds, but AM just don't have the pace right now so can't complain.
Yeah, McLaren is not acting like a front running team at all. I mean they could've easily hung 1 or both cars out there and responded to Ferrari pitting.
As for team orders ... The balance between a far reaching WDC and keeping both drivers happy enough and just getting the WCC, touch call. I don't envy Stella/Brown for having to make it.
I don't see a world where Max doesn't win the WDC, even with these pace differences
It's still possible, but Lando needed to actually capitalise on this weekend. Even the extra three points if they had decided to swap places with Piastri could end up being the decider, never mind the win. I think you're right Verstappen ends up hanging on to the championship, and it will be all due to McLaren incompetence and stubbornness. Such a frustrating season when it should really be a terrific chase to follow. Does my head in.
Awesome race and extremely excited for Charles. But man, until Mclaren are mathematically eliminated, Mclaren should be playing ruthless to get points. These mistakes are embarrassing and it's a shame that these exciting wins keep getting sidetracked by Mclaren strategy
With 8 Grand Prix and 3 Sprints to go Lando would need to outscore Max by 7.75 points on average every remaining race weekend. Considering Red Bull's struggles with their car and competitiveness of Mercedes and Ferrari, just a mix of consistent podiums and wins would give Norris a good shot at WDC. Even today he closed the gap by 8 points, and there's still Singapore and Qatar coming up, so I'm expecting a bigger swing in favour of McLaren. It's baffling they aren't using every opportunity to give Norris every possible point right now. I understand not wanting to strip Piastri of his first win in Hungary, but today their unwillingness to issue team orders cost them easy points.
On the other hand, good for Piastri. Unless McLaren takes a clear stance on prioritizing Lando, Oscar has no reason to act like his doormat number 2 driver. It would be hard for him to shake that reputation, and who knows how the WDC fight will look like in 2025.
Zak said in the pre race show that he has “2 number 1 drivers” so that is how they drive.
Now speculation mode on: I think behind the scenes Piastri’s manager Mark Webber is pulling some serious strings so his driver will not be treated as a number 2 driver…or should I say…Multi21 driver. Webber’s been in that situation and he’ll make very sure it ain’t happening under his watch again.
I did not foresee Ferrari winning on strategy (plus Charles excellent tyre management)
McLaren trying to win championships challenge (Impossible)
I think at this point it's clear they don't want to go for the WDC for whatever reason. And with Ferrari not that far behind and them blundering like this again and again, I would not be surprised if they don't win the WCC as well.
And to be a bit sarcastic: I'm sure Lando is happy to have let Oscar pass in Hungary after they told him how important the team is for his chances.
To win the drivers championship, McLaren had to execute 9 perfect races including Monza. We're talking about a team that had 0 perfect races this season. Norris isn't in the fight, the intrigue that the media is creating is purely artificial. Which is sad, because this season is interesting enough without it. There is no need for unreasonable fantasies.
They MUST capitalize as much as possible on any weekend where Max/RB are not strong, such as this one.
In a perfect world, Lando and Oscar would have worked together to defend from Ferrari and secure their 1-2 with Lando at the front. That would have been 17 points to relieve them a bit of this pressure of performing perfectly on all remaining weekends.
Of course we don't know if Charles/Ferrari would have won either way with their strategy. But Oscar gifting Charles a Lap 1 overtake on Lando and both McLarens straining their tyres racing against each other probably didn't hurt Ferrari.
Before today I seriously thought that Lando/McLaren had a chance at WDC, especially with Baku and Singapur still coming up. But as you said, they have shown again and again this season that they can't execute the race weekends necessary for this to happen.
Agree, it's like the "Checo will challenge Max for WDC" in 2023 media spin.
The drivers are good, the car is great. The team is not acting like they wanna win the WDC and barely like they wanna win the WCC. They're like surprised to find themselves up in the field
I just don't understand McLaren. Remember the drama in Hungary, where Norris had to give up his position to Piastri? But now, papaya rules?
Somehow, Piastri seems bent on not being #2 and it looks like he's got the team behind him. And Norris is such a nice guy he'll just fold and play along.
Piastri is ruthless enough to be WDC, but his racecraft is erratic. Norris is a better allround, quick and can keep his cool. But he's too fucking diplomatic. They need each other to maximize points and not squeeze each other out of the way.
This is all trying in vain to make up for Hungary IMHO. They looked like a laughing stock then, and have only muddied the water since.
I just watched the podium ceremony again after reading F1.com's latest article on the Piastri-Norris matter and the McLaren boys have sour faces: Oscar seems pissed by the fact that he lost to Leclerc simply because his car allowed him to do a one-stopper, and Lando even more so because of the Lap 1 debacle.
Oscar seems pissed by the fact that he lost to Leclerc simply because his car allowed him to do a one-stopper
Oscar overtook Sainz who was on younger tires than Leclerc, and the Mclarens were going faster all race, it's not a surprise that they ran out of tire.
The win was strategy and skill, for once.