Norris left fuming over costly Miami call as \u2018gutted\u2019 star throws team under bus<\/a><\/p>\nAndrea Kimi Antonelli, Formula 1\u2019s youngest ever championship leader, just can\u2019t help but break new ground in grand prix racing.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
\u201c[He has] the speed, and now add to that more experience, I think we\u2019re talking about lots of success in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope he can continue on this positive slope, but most important is not to be carried away. We have a good car \u2026 but he is a fierce competitor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just important to keep both feet on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
You get the sense that Wolff will be preaching caution after many more races this season \u2014 until eventually the caution become unnecessary.<\/p>\n
The plaudits are nice, but the points are more important.<\/p>\n
Antonelli\u2019s victory has put him 20 points clear of the field \u2014 and of anonymous teammate George Russell, who toiled to fourth.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a handy buffer as rival teams begin closing the gap, with Russell\u2019s lacklustre result demonstrating how having more drivers in the mix \u2014 regardless of whether they\u2019re victory contenders \u2014 can punish whichever Mercedes driver is second on any given weekend.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s far from the Mercedes dynamic we expected this season. It\u2019s now up to Russell to respond.<\/p>\n
STRATEGY CALL DECIDES THE RACE<\/p>\n
There was a moment deep in the first stint of the race that Norris seemed to have victory in his grasp.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d passed Antonelli for second place in the opening laps and then pounced on Leclerc after the safety car restart. The McLaren car looked much more convincing in race trim than it had during qualifying, and the clean air ensured he could set his own pace without stressing the car or tyres.<\/p>\n
On lap 21 his margin over Antonelli reached 3.1 seconds. With the pit stop window looming \u2014 Russell had just taken his service to start the sequence \u2014 it was up to McLaren to cash in.<\/p>\n
But McLaren allowed Mercedes to take the initiative by stopping Antonelli first, on lap 26, to get the undercut advantage, and Norris rejoined the race in net second place when he responded on the following lap.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a brilliant move from the strategy team back in Brackley and also here,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cQuite risky [given the gap], but then the stop was perfect, the out-lap was great.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the undercut proved powerful, the lap data shows how Antonelli executed.<\/p>\n
On the lap before his stop, he was 2.14 seconds adrift.<\/p>\n
His in-lap was 0.62 seconds quicker.<\/p>\n
His pit stop was 0.437 seconds faster.<\/p>\n
But his out-lap did the damage. From turn 1 after leaving the pits until the moment Norris hit the brakes to enter pit lane in response, Antonelli gained 1.9 seconds.<\/p>\n
It means just in this pit stop sequence he gained around 2.9 seconds on Norris, who rejoined the race fractionally behind, deciding the outcome.<\/p>\n
Lando Norris was furious he was udnercut by Antonelli.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should have boxed first, it\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d Norris lamented to Sky Sports. \u201cI don\u2019t know if my stopping 0.2 seconds quicker would have helped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we just have to be honest and say we should have boxed before. We shouldn\u2019t have been waiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was quite a bit quicker at that point of the race. I told the team I didn\u2019t quite have the pace compared to him at that point, and we didn\u2019t really seem to do a lot about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Norris walked back slightly from calling it a lost victory, it was clear from his demeanour that he thought more was on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could have fought for it more,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis pace was better than us today. I don\u2019t know if he still would have come out behind me and maybe still would have overtaken me, but we could have done more to defend for the win today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to review some things and what we could have done better.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHY DID McLAREN NOT PIT?<\/p>\n
The Miami Grand Prix took place in unusual circumstances \u2014 three hours ahead of schedule owing to a dire thunderstorm forecast that could have seen the race not run at all.<\/p>\n
The circuit had got a taste of the deluge early in the morning, when warning messages blared around Hard Rock Stadium urging people to take shelter as a wave of storms rolled in.<\/p>\n
The window selected by the FIA was perfectly timed, with the rain holding off long enough for the race to get underway in the dry, but the worst of the weather was still coming, and the threat of rain clearly influenced strategic decision-making for some.<\/p>\n
McLaren signalled early that it wanted to extend the first stint of both drivers in the hope that, if wet-weather tyres were required, Norris and Piastri could make them their first stop. Instead it left Norris vulnerable to the undercut.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it\u2019s so close, it\u2019s a matter of execution sometimes. It\u2019s a matter of details,\u201d McLaren principal Andrea Stella told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had an opportunity to win, 100 per cent. We were chased by a car that was a little bit faster than us. We were monitoring the weather at the same time, and when Kimi pitted, his out-lap was just mega. We couldn\u2019t match it with our performance on the in-lap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could have done better.\u201d<\/p>\n
These sorts of crunch strategy calls are a persistent McLaren weakness, at least in relative terms. We saw several fumbles last year, often under internally generated pressure but later under pressure applied by Verstappen and Red Bull Racing.<\/p>\n
In Miami it allowed Mercedes to put it under pressure, and it erred.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s perhaps the only blind spot in an otherwise dependably high-performing set-up, but if the frontrunning group is to be as close as it looked in Miami, it could be decisive.<\/p>\n
As tends to be the way with these things, not only was the race completed in the dry, but the forecast deluge during the original race window didn\u2019t manifest either.<\/p>\n
Despite the disappointment, this was a meaningful weekend for McLaren.<\/p>\n
It was the team\u2019s first double podium of the year, with Oscar Piastri charging home to third.<\/p>\n
McLaren was also the weekend\u2019s highest scoring team, handing Mercedes its first defeat of the season 48-45.<\/p>\n
Victory was elusive, but McLaren is still a winner. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe always said internally, irrespective of where we are at the start, that we know what we\u2019re capable of,\u201d Stella said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take all the positive out of this weekend. We are there. There\u2019s some new stuff coming for the coming races, so exciting times ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
FERRARI FRUSTRATION, PENALTY COSTS LECLERC<\/p>\n
While McLaren can walk away from Miami feeling buoyed, far less can be said of Ferrari.<\/p>\n
After tentatively hopeful beginnings, the Italian team\u2019s weekend collapsed spectacularly on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Leclerc\u2019s lunge for the lead on the first corner was as good as it got.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton could have made big gains on the first lap too but found himself bearing down on the spun-around Verstappen, and evasive action cost him places.<\/p>\n
He was then hip-and-shouldered by Franco Colapinto, causing him car damage that cost him around half a second of performance per lap for the entire race.<\/p>\n
Leclerc fought valiantly to defend his lead, but it was clear the Ferrari car wasn\u2019t of the same quality as the leading Mercedes or McLaren machines, and he was dethroned shortly after the safety car.<\/p>\n
An ugly end to the race for Charles Leclerc just kept getting worse.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, he executed a typically strong Leclerc race to hold third place ahead of Piastri until the end of the penultimate lap, when he made a series of catastrophic decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI pushed very hard on the second to last lap,\u201d he explained to Sky Sports. \u201cI thought it was a good idea to let Oscar go for me to get the overtake [mode]. I knew it was going to be very difficult to stay in front otherwise. But it was a very poor decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
A big slide out of the final corner meant he immediately lost touch with Piastri, and then he got too happy on the throttle out of turn 3 and spun into the barriers.<\/p>\n
Though he was able to limp to the chequered flag, he was passed by both Russell and Verstappen just before the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the space of four corners I put a very strong race in the bin. I\u2019m very frustrated about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all on me, and I don\u2019t have much to add other than that. Very disappointed with my mistake. It shouldn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Worse, though, was to come after the flag, with the stewards slapping him with a 20-second penalty for leaving the track \u201con several occasions without a justifiable reason\u201d despite the Monegasque arguing that his car could not turn right properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did my best to try and make the corners. It was probably a lot more difficult than what it looked for outside,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The penalty cost him two places, dropping him to eighth behind Franco Colapinto.<\/p>\n
The mistakes are extremely uncharacteristic of Leclerc, who \u2014 sadly for him \u2014 has become something of an expert of dragging his Ferrari to the maximum possible result, sometimes beyond the expectations of even the team.<\/p>\n
You have to wonder whether these errors were even just a small amount of frustration creeping in as Ferrari struggles to keep up with the leaders in the development game. While the Italian team\u2019s big upgrade package was a step forward, everyone else \u2014 McLaren and Red Bull Racing especially \u2014 made much bigger steps, demoting Ferrari to the status of fourth-fastest team in Miami.<\/p>\n
Given the expectations for this season, and given the early optimism, you\u2019d certainly call that a frustrating place to be.<\/p>\n
HADJAR\u2019S GHOST OF RED BULL PAST<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s recovery to fifth after his first-lap spin \u2014 he thinks a podium otherwise would\u2019ve been on the cards \u2014 looked a lot like old-fashioned Max in terms of pace and execution.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Red Bull Racing, the same is true of the other car as well.<\/p>\n
Isack Hadjar has had the weekend that the team must have been fearing was coming.<\/p>\n
The Frenchman was 0.825 seconds slower than Verstappen in qualifying, and his race lasted only a few laps before he smashed his cars at the clumsy turn 14-15 chicane.<\/p>\n
He was visibly furious with himself in the cockpit of his stopped RB22. It\u2019s a Hadjar trait to get his emotions out in this way, but it was also an illustration of how much frustration he was carrying by the time he ended up in the barriers.<\/p>\n
Isack Hadjar was furious in a worrying moment for Red Bull.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no point trying to flirt with the limit in this corner, so I\u2019m really pissed off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve really struggled with my overall pace. This is new and I really need to dig deep, because I don\u2019t want another weekend like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s true that Hadjar until this weekend has been in Verstappen\u2019s ballpark \u2014 exactly what the team had hoped it would get after dumping Yuki Tsunoda and, before him, Liam Lawson and Sergio P\u00e9rez, all of whom were miles from the Dutchman.<\/p>\n
But this weekend felt a lot like it could have been from the playbook of any of his predecessors.<\/p>\n
A quote after qualifying stood out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car was very hard to drive,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was very fast; in Q3 I just couldn\u2019t put it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n
A car that\u2019s fast but so difficult that only Verstappen can drive it \u2014 it could have been a line from any of the last few years.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing will be hoping this was a blip in Hadjar\u2019s otherwise solid start to life at Milton Keynes. The alternative is too alarming to consider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Antonelli History Column, where a 19-year-old sets new Formula 1 records every weekend. Andrea Kimi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2620,2095,12295,13273,64,63,40761,22777,313594,12150,13275,313605,313604,313598,313607,313600,817,70678,2755,313602,813,816,313593,1802,3875,2105,2104,133588,2101,313608,313601,5140,844,2041,2067,313609,25593,90128,25586,36245,313597,31299,102412,313599,78374,313603,43359,313595,25598,106482,2072,2643,85,313610,137612,85318,2614,109459,245691,313596,313606,161880,313611],"class_list":["post-647926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-america","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-andrea-stella","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ayrton-senna","tag-championship-leader","tag-character-trait","tag-charging-home","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-crucial-track-position","tag-crunch-strategy-calls","tag-development-game","tag-dire-thunderstorm-forecast","tag-evasive-action-cost","tag-f1","tag-final-corner","tag-florida","tag-forecast-deluge","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-fourth-fastest-team","tag-franco-colapinto","tag-george-russell","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-grand-prix-racing","tag-highest-scoring-team","tag-italian-team","tag-italian-wonderkid","tag-lap-data-shows","tag-miami","tag-michael-schumacher","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-penalty-costs","tag-penultimate-lap","tag-peter-fox","tag-pit-lane","tag-pit-stop","tag-pit-stop-sequence","tag-pit-stop-window","tag-pole-positions","tag-positive-slope","tag-race-victory","tag-race-window","tag-race-winner","tag-relative-terms","tag-safety-car","tag-safety-car-restart","tag-sergio-perez","tag-sky-sports","tag-sports","tag-stop-window-looming","tag-strategy-team","tag-teenage-sensation","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-upgrade-package","tag-urging-people","tag-victory-contenders","tag-warning-messages","tag-wet-weather-tyres","tag-wheel-connectivity-issue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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