McLaren is bullish it can prevent a repeat of Lando Norris‘ reliability issues in last week’s Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, and explained what is happening with the Briton’s power unit pool.
Norris’ McLaren MCL39 started developing problems with seven laps to go at Zandvoort and the title protagonist soon ground to a halt with a smoking car. Norris’ retirement was McLaren’s first race-ending reliability issue in years, which set him back in the intra-McLaren title fight against Oscar Piastri.
The oil leak that crippled Norris’ car was caused by an engine oil line failure on the team’s side, with the engine sent back to supplier Mercedes HPP for further investigation.
McLaren’s COO Piers Thynne says the squad is confident it has resolved the issue by manufacturing more robust parts.
“It was an unfortunate incident when we broke our long chain of positive reliability. The team have reacted extremely well and extremely pragmatically to look at the issue, find the root cause, understand it and manufacture parts that are extremely focused to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Thynne explained.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
“I’m extremely pleased with the reaction of the team and certainly the factory, both design and manufacturing, reacted in a very positive and pragmatic way to the issue. The solution that is here this weekend to prevent it from happening again is the right one.”
Both Norris and Piastri have switched to fresher power units for the Monza weekend, where power output and straightline speeds are key.
But Thynne confirmed that Norris’ Zandvoort engine can be reintroduced later on this season, alleviating concerns Norris’ woes might be compounded by a grid penalty for exceeding the allowed number of power unit components.
Asked if the power unit can be added back to the pool this season, he replied: “Yes”.
He added: “The issue that happened in Zandvoort hasn’t affected our engine allocation for this event and we continue to look at engine allocation in a circuit specific, most performant way, that balances what we have to the end of the year.”
Autosport understands the affected engine will require some minor repairs for fire damage, but could return to the pool as soon as the next round in Baku in two weeks.
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