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Coulthard wonders if McLaren performed a masterstroke in Hungary

Why Coulthard suggests McLaren's decision could be a masterstroke

22 July at 14:00
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  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

David Coulthard suggests that McLaren's sticky situation during the Hungarian Grand Prix could be a 'masterstroke' for the team's long-term future. The former Formula 1 driver sees a positive and defends Andrea Stella's actions on the pit wall.

McLaren have received a lot of heat for the situation that occurred in the closing stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix. This included Peter Windsor, who believes McLaren should simply focus on the prime driver. Nico Rosberg also offered direct advice to Stella after the race and tried to teach him a lesson.

McLaren swapped the order of their drivers, who were leading the race, by choosing the trailing car to pit first and take the undercut. They wanted to undo this work, and Norris eventually obliged after several radio messages. Norris' engineer, Will Joseph, had to remind the British driver "to do the right thing". The stress and tension could be heard in his voice, and that only increased as the laps went by.

Why McLaren's decision could be a masterstroke

Coulthard admits he was frustrated in the commentary box because the situation opened up "old wounds", but he wonders whether it could actually have been a smart move.

"I'm thinking maybe this is just a masterstroke from Andrea Stella where as part of the growing pains to become a genuine world championship competing team, he needs to put the team through that stress level. I wouldn't want to go through that stress level. There was a brilliant performance from both the drivers," Coulthard said after the race on Channel 4's highlights show.

McLaren have been on a sudden upward trajectory over the previous 12 months. Since the early part of the 2024 season, they have been in regular contention to win races but have only picked up two victories. The team are now just 51 points behind Red Bull Racing in the Constructors Championship, but Norris still faces a 76-point deficit to Verstappen in the Drivers Championship.