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McLaren is working to improve their pit stops in the future, after a series of slow stops for both drivers, especially Lando Norris, have put them in a compromising situation. Norris has had two consecutive weekends of slow pit stops, which affected his overall race.
Although the team has delivered an extremely competitive car, and McLaren is on their way to clinch the Constructors' Championship, there are still some areas that the team lacks, and pit stops have turned out to be one of them. It's not the strategy that is affected; however, one slow pit stop can negatively impact an entire race.
This was noticed in Monza when they pitted Norris in the final stages, but a 5.9-second stop dropped him a position. The same incident was repeated earlier last week in Baku, and it has happened in multiple other races this season. Focusing on the issue, team principal Andrea Stella mentioned that the team needs to work on it.
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"But certainly, in terms of pit stops, this is an area where we have already focused our efforts," he said (via Motorsport Italy).
"So, definitely, for the rest of the season and also looking at next year's car, there's some work to be done on the pit stop side, both in terms of the execution of pit stops, but also in terms of the hardware, so that executing a pit stop for our team is easier and more natural."
He further explained that the error in Monza was different from the ones they had previously.
"The pit stop problem today (in Baku) is different from the one we had in Monza. This was definitely more related to the interaction between the operator and the screwdriver."
Although McLaren has been the leading favorite for the championship since the start of the season, Stella still feels that the Drivers' Championship can have a major change.
McLaren considering Max Verstappen a "serious contender" for the championship
Oscar Piastri leads the Drivers' Championship with his teammate, Lando Norris, closely following up. Max Verstappen has been sitting in third place in the championship since the season started; however, the gap between him and Piastri was wide enough not to consider him as a serious contender for the title.
However, this could soon change, warns Andrea Stella. After Verstappen's victory in Monza, the McLaren team principal claimed that the team had some upgrades, and the Dutchman has started performing much better. He also suggested that Red Bull Racing could be a "serious contender" for the Drivers' Championship.
"Now Verstappen is talking about grounding much more than he was doing before, so they might have unlocked performance," Stella said (via The Race). "I would not be surprised at all that Red Bull may continue the streak that they have started - because pole position in Monza, victory, and now pole position here."
"Red Bull are a very serious contender to win races and a very serious contender for the drivers' championship."
However, the Constructors' Championship is set to be an easy snatch for McLaren. The team was tipped to clinch the title in Baku if they had managed to outscore Ferrari by nine points; however, that did not happen. They are now expected to be crowned champions in the next race in Singapore.
