The McLaren Formula 1 team is actively digging for reasons why it suffered such a disappointing weekend at Sepang on a circuit that theoretically should have suited the MCL40. Coming off the back of a tricky weekend on the streets of Baku despite introducing car upgrades, the Woking-based squad headed to Malaysia with full confidence that the high downforce demands would play directly to their strengths.
However, on the notoriously abrasive Sepang tarmac, McLaren fell flat and found itself with only the fourth-fastest car over the entire weekend. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ended up six tenths off polesitter Max Verstappen as they could only manage sixth and seventh places on the starting grid during a tense qualifying session.
Following an unsuccessful early gamble to start on slick tyres on a damp track, McLaren's highest finisher in the race was Oscar Piastri down in sixth position. This sudden downturn proved to be extra puzzling for the papaya squad, especially after they had dominated as the class-leading benchmark in both Zandvoort and Madrid earlier in the championship.
Team principal Andrea Stella addressed the puzzling situation when questioned about his team's lacklustre pace in Malaysia. According to Motorsport.com, he pointed out how quickly the competitive landscape shifts in Formula 1 and acknowledged that rival constructors might have taken larger steps forward with their development packages.
"We see a scenario in Formula 1 which seems to be changing pretty rapidly," said Andrea Stella. "In Hungary we took some upgrades and we were in condition to have pole position in Hungary, Zandvoort. And then we were in condition to do pole position and pretty much victory in Madrid without the virtual safety car. And then very rapidly and interestingly as we took upgrades as well, the picture changes."
"We don't see any anomaly in our data. But we have to acknowledge that potentially some competitors have developed their car with bigger steps than we did," he added.
Despite the setback, Andrea Stella refused to jump to premature conclusions after competing on the toughest asphalt on the F1 calendar, noting that competitors like Mercedes also struggled for raw pace despite significant upgrades. McLaren expects several smaller development parts to arrive on the car during the final leg of the season to help them fight back onto the podiums.
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