During the Zandvoort Grand Prix, McLaren seemed on track for another one-two finish. Oscar Piastri was leading the field, with teammate Lando Norris – also his biggest challenger in the world championship – hot on his heels. However, in the final stages, things went awry for the Brit; an oil leak ended his race and his chance at valuable championship points. McLaren emphasizes that the proverbial leak has been fixed ahead of Monza.
With seven laps to go at Zandvoort, Norris’ McLaren began to produce a noticeable amount of smoke. Eventually, the Brit came to a standstill off the track, where he, knowing that Piastri would extend his lead in the championship, despondently accepted his loss in the dunes. It was the first mechanical DNF for McLaren, which has been dominating the entire field this season. Afterwards, an oil leak turned out to be the culprit. Norris’ engine block was sent back to supplier Mercedes for further investigation.
New Monza Engine
Piers Thynne, COO of McLaren, stated in Monza that the team is confident the problem has been resolved. “It was an unfortunate incident that broke our long streak of reliability,” he said in a conversation with Autosport. “The team has responded extraordinarily well and extremely pragmatically by investigating the problem, finding the cause, and producing new parts that should prevent a recurrence.””I am extremely satisfied with the response of the team and certainly the factory,” Thynne added. “The solution we have devised for this weekend is the right one.” Both Lewis Hamilton and Piastri have switched to a new engine for the Italian GP, focused on power and absolute speed – key factors at the Temple of Speed. This does not mean that Norris’ Zandvoort engine has been written off, Thynne explained. “The problem that occurred in the Netherlands did not affect our engine allocation for Monza,” the McLaren boss assured. “Yes,” he responded when asked if the Zandvoort model will remain available in the future. Norris may be able to use the engine during the Azerbaijan GP in two weeks.
