Andrea Stella gives ‘greedy’ McLaren verdict after several Silverstone strategy errors

Andrea Stella admitted McLaren were perhaps too “greedy” during the British Grand Prix and that ultimately hurt their chances of a one-two finish at Silverstone.

McLaren had the race in the palm of their hands on lap 27 when their drivers occupied P1 and P2 but a poor strategy choice resulted in them moving down to P3 and P4.

Andrea Stella assesses McLaren mistakes during British GP

With the drivers half a second from each other and the rain coming down, McLaren faced the unenviable choice of whether to double stack or not and ultimately their decision not to cost Oscar Piastri in particular.

Piastri stayed out while Norris pitted, but by the time the Australian reached the pit entry, his team-mate had caught up to within five seconds.

McLaren boss Stella conceded they should have double pitted, even if it would have cost them time.

“We should have pushed harder for the double stack,”: he told media including PlanetF1.com. “Because by delaying Oscar’s stop by one lap, we lost much more time than the time we would have lost in a double stack.

“So in hindsight, that was the right thing to do, stop both cars at the same time. We take the learning from this experience and we will do better next time.”

The team boss also admitted that McLaren were perhaps too “greedy” when it came to their strategy calls, suggesting they did not want to accept losing any time for a double stack.

“I think we were a little greedy that we didn’t want to accept that we would have lost time with the double stack,” he said.

“But sometimes you just have to be patient and accept that you’re going to lose time but just do the right thing, rather than hoping that one lap more is not going to cost that much.

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“Especially when the rain was pretty steady. It’s not like he’s going to face easier conditions, staying out one more lap.

“I think Oscar would have been in a really strong position today, at least as strong as Lando, in terms of opportunities to win the race.”

Piastri was characteristically measured in his assessment of the race, suggesting it was the “hardest call you’re ever going to have in motor racing.”

“I think to be honest, that decision in that race is probably the hardest call you’re ever going to have in motor racing,” the Australian said.

“You’ve got two cars, one two, separated by half a second with rain coming down. I don’t think it gets any harder than that.

“So I think clearly, some things we need to review, I think double stacking would have been the better call but hindsight is a wonderful thing.”

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