PALMER: Have McLaren made a rod for their own back with their driver swap in Monza?
Former Renault F1 driver Jolyon Palmer asks whether McLaren were right to swap Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri around in the Italian Grand Prix.
McLaren made the headlines in Monza with their decision to swap their drivers late in the race after Lando Norris’ slow pit stop, so let’s take a closer look at how this played out – and what the ramifications might be moving forwards.
The set-up of the swap is important to discuss here. McLaren were going about orchestrating their pit stops with planned sequencing, which they decided would favour the leading driver – in this case Norris. The reason for this was because of the way they ran their strategy on Sunday.
The Italian Grand Prix was a rare occasion this year when they didn’t have the race pace of Max Verstappen. In the hope of winning the race, McLaren tried to extend their first stint as long as possible, hoping for an intervention from a Safety Car or a red flag, which would have given them a surprise shot of victory.
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