McLaren says that four-time champion Sebastian Vettel’s then record-breaking run of 9 successive wins within the second half of 2013 exhibits why it’s proper to dream of a Formulation 1 title double.
Lando Norris’s dominant victory within the Dutch Grand Prix has ignited each his and McLaren’s championship hopes, though Max Verstappen and Pink Bull nonetheless have a good benefit of their related factors standings.
However based mostly on the dimensions of benefit Norris delivered at Zandvoort, to supply the largest successful margin of 2024 in coming house 22.896 seconds in entrance of Verstappen, there’s a trajectory that provides McLaren hopes in each the groups and particular person battles.
Within the constructors’ championship, McLaren is now simply 30 factors behind Pink Bull, having slashed into its rivals’ benefit by 12 factors over the weekend.
Within the drivers’ battle, Norris is now 70 factors behind Verstappen after taking eight factors out of his lead for each the win and quickest lap. Ought to he repeat that victory/quickest lap feat over the remaining 9 races of the season then that might be sufficient to finish the 12 months as champion.
Such a run of kind is a troublesome ask, however McLaren says it has seemed again at historical past – and particularly the way in which Vettel and Pink Bull took a complete stranglehold on F1 after the summer time break in 2013 – to indicate that that degree of dominance is solely attainable.
Vettel had endured a troublesome problem with each Mercedes and Ferrari for race wins over the primary half of 2013, however the scenario modified dramatically when F1 returned from the summer time shutdown.
From the Belgian Grand Prix, Vettel proved to be in a category of his personal as he gained all 9 races by way of to the season finale in Belgium to safe his fourth and remaining crown.
The McLaren trophy delegate sprays Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Workforce, 1st place, with Champagne on the rostrum
Photograph by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Pictures
Talking after the Dutch GP, McLaren staff principal Andrea Stella stated that McLaren had taken be aware of what Vettel did greater than a decade in the past to place its present problem in context.
Requested if it was now sport on in each championships, Stella stated: “I believe within the constructors’ championship, the sport was on even earlier than this occasion.
“Within the drivers’ championship, we undoubtedly wished to maintain our head and our give attention to the truth that it was attainable. We even talked and checked out what Vettel did in 2013 and we stated: ‘we could do the identical. Why not?’ We have to preserve the main focus. We have to suppose that is attainable.”
Whereas Stella defined over the Dutch GP weekend that he felt the staff’s kind at Zandvoort was flattered by monitor traits, he conceded that what it produced within the race was far past what it thought was attainable.
“I’ve to say it was very encouraging from a efficiency viewpoint,” he stated.
“On the identical time, it occurs at a monitor that appears to be simply very appropriate for our automobile, like Hungary was. Even after Hungary, the [public] stated, ‘Ah, it’ll be P1, P2 each race’. Nevertheless it’s not. That simply appears to be very monitor dependent in the meanwhile.
“However this was undoubtedly past expectation when it comes to qualifying efficiency, when it comes to race efficiency, and to some extent even the tyre degradation was excellent, to the purpose that Lando scored the quickest lap of the race on the final lap.”
Whereas Stella thinks the present scenario is one which means it could ponder world championship success, Norris himself felt it was not proper to consider such issues.
“I have been preventing for the championship because the first race of the 12 months. There is not any sudden choice now,” he stated.
“I have to do higher. I have been working laborious the entire 12 months and I am nonetheless 70 factors behind Max. So it is fairly silly to think about something on the minute.
“I simply take one race at a time and simply preserve doing what I am doing now as a result of there isn’t any level in considering forward and considering of the remaining.”
