McLaren explain Qatar GP blunder after costly error sees Max Verstappen beat Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris

Andrea Stella discusses why McLaren chose not to pit their drivers during the lap-seven Safety Car - a call that opened the door for Max Verstappen to seize an unexpected victory and set up a dramatic three-way finale.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has shed light on the reasoning behind the team’s decision to keep both cars out under the Safety Car at the Qatar Grand Prix - a move that significantly altered the trajectory of the Formula 1 title fight.

It ultimately proved a costly miscalculation. McLaren lost a near-certain win when they kept race leader Oscar Piastri and third-placed Lando Norris circulating on track as the Safety Car appeared on lap seven. Only one other driver failed to pit at this moment.

Verstappen’s triumph - his fifth in the last eight races - confirmed a three-way championship showdown against the two McLaren drivers in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Norris leads Verstappen by 12 points, with Piastri another four points behind.

F1 Drivers’ Championship – Top Three

1. Lando Norris | McLaren | 408
   
    
2. Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 396
   
    
3. Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 392

A dejected Piastri admitted on team radio that he was “speechless” about how the race slipped away from him, while Norris accepted that it was “not our finest day, but that’s life.”

Stella explained that concerns about having Norris double-stack behind Piastri - which could have cost the Briton track position - were part of the discussion but “not the primary reason.”

What led McLaren to keep their cars out?

The penultimate race of the season pivoted dramatically on lap seven, when a collision between Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 1 triggered the Safety Car after Hulkenberg spun into the gravel.

Because of the mandated 25-lap tyre stint limit, the earliest moment drivers could pit and cleanly split the race into two equal 25-lap runs was lap seven - making it an ideal window.

Pitting under a Safety Car also reduces the time lost relative to pitting under green-flag conditions.

Yet McLaren stunned observers by leaving Piastri on track, with Norris following suit into lap eight. Red Bull seized the opportunity, bringing Verstappen in from second place, with 16 other drivers following.

When racing resumed on lap 11, Verstappen was directly behind the McLarens and needed only one more stop, while both orange cars still required two. With strong pace and optimal strategy, Verstappen pulled away to win by eight seconds, with Piastri second and Norris fourth behind Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

Explaining the logic behind the call, Stella said:
“Effectively, we conceded one pit stop to a rival who was very fast today. We had our reasons.
We didn’t want to emerge from the pits stuck in traffic - but clearly the rest of the field judged the situation differently.
Everyone pitted, and that made our choice fundamentally wrong from a race-outcome perspective. Because Verstappen was quick and tyre degradation was low, the decision penalised us heavily. Oscar had the race firmly under control and deserved the win.”

Stella added:
“It was a decision. But in hindsight, it wasn’t the correct one.”

At the time of the Safety Car, Piastri led Verstappen by 2.6 seconds and Norris by 4.4 seconds.
Norris himself held 1.7 seconds over fourth-placed Kimi Antonelli, with Sainz another two seconds back.

Stella continued:
“For Lando, the potential extra delay from stacking was part of the consideration - but not the key factor.
We believed traffic would compromise both cars, but that interpretation was clearly not right.”

Piastri on the call not to pit on lap seven

“I asked, ‘What are we doing?’ because we were nearing pit entry and I hadn’t heard anything.
When you don’t get an immediate call after a Safety Car, it usually means there’s debate happening.
In those moments, you trust the team - they have far more information about gaps and strategy. So I relied on their judgement.”

Did McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ influence the mistake?

McLaren have been meticulous this season in maintaining fairness between their two title-contending drivers.

Their so-called “papaya rules” ensure balanced treatment on track. But the Qatar strategy error raised questions about whether concern over stacking Norris behind Piastri may have clouded judgement - potentially costing positions to Antonelli or Sainz.

“Piastri had a three-second cushion over Verstappen. In isolation, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t pit Oscar.
For Lando, stacking is more complex - he’d risk losing multiple spots.
If papaya rules created hesitation and prevented Norris from being stacked, that could have hurt them.
Only McLaren know the full answer.”
“I don’t think papaya rules were the issue. They simply misread the situation.
They expected another Safety Car later and wanted strategic flexibility.
Almost everyone else stacked. Andrea expected half the field to stay out since lap seven was the first viable stop.
They got it wrong. Stack or not, they thought they were making the right call.
The tyres held up, and Verstappen had plenty of pace.”

Lando Norris:
“It’s nothing to do with that. People keep saying it, but no - we’re free to race.
Red Bull were just as fast today. They made the right call.
We’ll review what we did. We already know we didn’t make the right choice. You can’t get them all right.”

Oscar Piastri:
“I don’t think today’s decision was related to that. We just got it wrong. I’ll talk to the team.”

‘I feel like I’ve lost a win’

For Piastri, the outcome was particularly painful given his commanding form throughout the weekend.

He took pole for both the Sprint - which he won - and the Grand Prix, and was poised for his first Sunday victory since the Dutch GP in August.

Although he finished ahead of Norris, Verstappen closed the points gap and now sits between the two McLaren drivers heading into Abu Dhabi.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone yet, but I feel pretty awful, as you’d expect.
We didn’t get the strategy right. My pace was strong. I didn’t make a single mistake. It’s just a shame.
I left the pit-stop decision to the team - they had more information than I did.”

Piastri added in the post-race press conference:
“On a personal level, I feel like I lost a win today.
In Vegas, I lost a P4 through the double disqualification.
It was a tough weekend for the team, but for me, this one hurts more.”