McLaren under pressure from 'fuming' Middle Eastern bosses

F1 News

McLaren's Middle Eastern bosses are fuming with results
20 July at 12:00
1
  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

McLaren have been in the mix for race wins for much of the 2024 Formula 1 season but have only won the Miami Grand Prix with Lando Norris. By their own admission, they feel like they could've won more races had they done things differently. Nico Rosberg reports that their Middle Eastern bosses are not happy with the results produced.

Lando Norris was left kicking himself for not making the perfect start to the Spanish Grand Prix. He lost two places at the start and then had to use a different strategy to try to play catch-up. In Canada, Norris got a little bit unlucky with the timing of the safety car, but a different procedure could've potentially meant the Brit stayed out in front. In Austria, Norris had a strong car but could not overtake Max Verstappen to take the win. The two ended up crashing, and the Brit recorded a DNF.

Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri has only secured two podiums this season, one of which came as a benefit of the crash in Austria. Speaking on Sky Sports, Nico Rosberg says he has heard these results have created unrest with the Middle Eastern bosses.

Why pressure is increasing on McLaren

Norris sees McLaren going through a change, as they are now regularly in the mix for wins. "Suddenly, if you're fighting for race wins every weekend, it's a different game. Some small imperfections start to appear more strongly. I have heard that there's definitely pressure internally now to iron all that out. I heard rumours that the Middle Eastern bosses were very much fuming because a couple of wins have been thrown away now," Rosberg said before concluding that overall, the British team are in a "great place".

GPblog asked McLaren for a reply but a response has not yet been given.