“I thought nobody could beat her on this route,” says Red Bull Motor Sports Consulent Helmut Marko and speaks about what many have thought in Hungary: McLaren is indomitable. But they are not. Because there is neither Oscar Piatri nor Lando Norris, but Charles Leclerc.
“If you look at the performance of the car in training as well as in Q1 and Q2, we had hoped to block the first series of start,” team boss Andrea Stella has to admit. The team primarily attributes the fact that this did not work out. More precisely: the wind conditions.
“The conditions have changed between Q2 and Q3, and that hurt us a little,” the Italian told Sky. “I think our drivers were a little more careful because you never knew exactly which grip you would have in every curve.”
This can also be seen in the numbers: Piatri was more than four tenths of a second more than in Q2, Norris, more than half a second. Leclerc, on the other hand, was able to increase. “He deserved the poles,” emphasizes Stella. “Ferrari did a great job and we have a little more work than expected tomorrow – but we look forward to the race.”
Video: Quali analysis: Wind whirls Ferrari on Hungary poles
Piatri: Wind does not want to blame, but …
At least Piatri was able to beat his teammate Norris and take second place, even if he was plenty of dissatisfied. “It always sounds a bit lame when you push everything on the wind, but it really turned 180 degrees between Q2 and Q3,” he describes his impression.
As a result, many curves would have felt completely different. “My first Q3 run was pretty bad because I was still in my head with the old direction of wind,” he explains. Then it should have been better in the second run, right? But it wasn’t.
“I thought the second round was much better, but it was even slower,” the World Cup leader scratched his head. “It was difficult to assess in these conditions, maybe not the best implementation. I was surprised that we weren’t faster. Second place is still a good starting place – let’s see what’s going on tomorrow.”
Norris: Q3 felt “terrible”
Norris is also surprised that McLaren has not yet occupied the first series of starting series after dominance. “Copy paste,” he says of his teammate’s answer, which he can sign. “Q2 felt good, I was confident,” he says. But the judgment about Q3 is: “Terrible!”
“Same story as Oscar. I thought my second run was better – but it wasn’t,” he says. “The wind simply has a huge influence on the car. There is no uncommon for half a second difference.
Stella explains: That is why the wind is so tricky
But why is the wind actually such a big topic? Team boss Stella tries to explain: “A Formula 1 car is basically an aerodynamic machine. Backwind, headwind or side winds make an enormous difference in the grip you have in the curve,” he says.
“This is not visible to the drivers. We give you information about the wind direction, but especially in Q3 it was very gusty and changeable. It then depends on how much risk you want to take and how you adapt to the wind,” said Stella.
If you simulate the measured wind in every curve, you get about four tenths of time in the McLaren pilots. “The rest was careful with our drivers,” he says. “The temperature change also played a role, but was not the main reason. Our car actually likes rather warmer conditions, but the main factor was definitely the wind.”
McLaren has at least no free track towards the racing victory on Sunday. The eyes are likely to be focused on who is in the front of both drivers and postponed the World Cup in his favor. Actually, in Hungary Norris, it seemed to be ahead, but in qualifying it was again Piatri, which was 0.015 seconds ahead.
“I think the weekend was actually just like qualifying today – Lando and Oscar were very close together, like actually the whole season,” says Stella. “This is also reflected in the championship and the points. It is an interesting situation – also for Formula 1 as a whole. Execution, precision, consistency – that will be crucial.”