McLaren’s worst nightmare came true at the Dutch GP when Lando Norris‘ car gave up just laps before what looked like another dominant team 1-2 finish.
The papaya team had been untouchable around the challenging Zandvoort circuit, with both cars clearly faster than the competition.
But disaster struck with just seven laps to go.
Norris, who was closing in on teammate Oscar Piastri and threatening to get within DRS range, suddenly reported a burning smell from his car. Moments later, smoke poured out of his McLaren, forcing him to pull over and retire from the race.
It was a gut-wrenching moment for the entire McLaren garage.
Team boss Andrea Stella addressed the failure after the race, clearly frustrated by the timing and implications of the breakdown.
“Reliability has been a strong point at McLaren for a long time. We have had today what looks like a technical reliability problem which is always disappointing.”
What bothers Stella most isn’t just the mechanical failure itself, but how it impacts the increasingly intense championship battle between his drivers.
“I would say that is even more inconvenient because it affects a situation in which we as a team we wanted to stay as neutral as possible in what is the drivers’ individual quest in the drivers championship.”
The DNF couldn’t have come at a worse time for Norris.
Instead of potentially challenging Piastri for the win and minimizing point losses, he walked away with zero points while his teammate collected the full 25 for the victory.
“It’s not ideal that we had a problem with the car but that’s what it is,” Stella added. “The whole team will process this trying to take the learning, reviewing the problem, fixing it and making sure that this is not a factor anymore for the future.”
Piastri now leads Norris by a hefty 34 points in the championship standings – a painful 25-point swing from what could have been a much closer battle.
The F1 circus now heads to Monza for round 16, where Norris will be desperate to claw back some points as the season enters its final stretch.
