Why McLaren won’t blame F1 race control for lost Spanish GP victory

After qualifying on pole position with a stunning lap on Saturday, victory in the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix looked certain for Lando Norris – until an ill-timed virtual safety car cost him a shot at the win.

However, Mclaren says it won’t blame race control for the bad luck it endured on Sunday.

The very nature of the Madring circuit meant that a strong start from pole would make victory highly likely for Norris, as it proved to be incredibly hard for F1, F2 and even F3 cars to pass in race conditions.

And, with the benefit of clean air, the Briton streaked ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen after just a handful of laps. However, all that changed when the brakes on Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin failed and he was forced to park up at the side of the road, bringing out the virtual safety car.

The timing of the incident severely impacted Norris’ race, as he was past the pit entry when the VSC was initially called and the track went green again by the time he had made it around another lap to pit. His rivals, meanwhile, made the most of the disruption and stopped to change tyres, which Norris said lost him around 20 seconds in the race.

The misfortune led some to question the regulations around safety cars and VSCs, and what can be done to ensure nobody is at an advantage or disadvantage when they are called.

Andrea Stella acknowledged that race control shouldn't set the safety car rules

Photo by: Ryan Pierse / Getty Images

However, McLaren boss Andrea Stella believes such considerations should not impact the race direction of a grand prix.

“Like all the times in which a safety car or a virtual safety car timing or duration has a large influence on a race, we have an opportunity to review whether we can do things differently,” he said after the race.

“But this is not under the jurisdiction of the race director. The race director applies the guidance and the regulations at the moment of the race that he's directing. And I think that when there's a situation like the one that caused the virtual safety car, the attention of the race director, and rightly so, is on when the conditions exist to turn the virtual safety car on and when they exist to turn it off. I don't think he takes a look at what's happening in the race. It would be a big distraction.”

“Keep it in the hands of the gods”

Stella said the team had “absolutely no comment” on the race direction of the Spanish GP, adding that they had “done a good job according to what is present”. However, he conceded that there was scope for “wider reflection” about taking steps to ‘maintain more fairness’ in similar incidents.

“I'm puzzled myself as to what's right,” Stella continued. “Is it correct to give enough duration such that everyone will be subject to the same track conditions? So, for instance, the virtual safety car lasts at least one full lap. Or, you just keep it in the hands of the gods? And sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you are not. I'm not sure myself.

“But in general, there's the right place to have this sort of conversation which is the Strategy Advisory Committee, the famous SAC. And this is a topic that may be added to the agenda and discussed over there. But if it's a change, it will have to be a change that goes through the SAC, then the F1 Commission, and then we have to go at some stage to the Sporting Regulations.”

Lando Norris lost out to Kimi Antonelli in Spain

This, Stella said, would be a “relatively lengthy process”, meaning that change can’t be expected anytime soon. Regardless, Norris admitted that while he lost out on this occasion due to the timing of the VSC, others have lost out under similar circumstances - and he has also benefited at times.

“I was the only one, the only one on the whole grid that didn't get the chance to do the pitstop,” Norris said in the post-race press conference. “That's just unfortunate. It's happened in races and there's been plenty of times where I've gained from it in the past and times where I lost from it.

“It's racing, but never when fighting for a win. So, I think it's probably one of the first times a win has been lost simply because of it.”