McLaren have been on form since Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took their first race wins in May after a significant automotive update, but despite several probabilities so as to add to that tally over the summer, strategic decisions cost them.
At Silverstone, for instance, an incorrect pit stop decision and poor tyre alternative for the ultimate stage cost Norris victory and gave priority to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
Speaking on the James Allen on F1 podcast, Sky Sports F1 TV pundit and former F1 strategist Bernie Collins said McLaren needed to be more ruthless and never make strategic decisions under pressure “in consultation”.
“I think that's part of the problem with McLaren. When you keep asking a driver what tyre he wants, you naturally slow down the decision-making process,” Collins said.
“The more independence you possibly can have for the people making those decisions, the quicker those decisions are going to come back naturally. And , slightly little bit of Norris's pit lap is when he's so focused on whether it's a soft, medium or hard that he's not eager about whether it's a medium or a dry.
“The first question really had to be, ‘Which lap is the right one to run dry?’ and someone else had to make the second decision. And those are the teams that work best together when you have that trust and that independent thinking.”
Collins also doesn’t buy McLaren’s claims this summer that the team continues to be “learning to win” after years of lack of competitiveness for the reason that Hamilton/Jenson Button era within the early 2010s.
“Not really,” she says when asked about it. “Midfield strategy is just as difficult as attacking strategy.
Simon Lazenby, Danica Patrick, Bernie Collins, Sky F1 presenters
Photo: Simon Galloway / Motorsports images
“Some people will agree or disagree, but you're still fighting for each position, every point. McLaren have been superb with strategy previously. I feel there's a little bit of movement of individuals there, a bit on their pit wall.
“The people you play against change. So as a midfield team or a lower midfield team, you go up against certain teams and also you find out how they react and the way aggressive they could be.
“And as you climb, it changes and naturally the extent you're competing at changes. I spent every race that I worked on analysing every decision that everybody else was making. And I feel like I had a fairly good idea of why Red Bull were making decisions, why Mercedes were making decisions.
“I have no doubt that McLaren is doing the same. As you go forward, this is what you've been waiting for. This is what the whole team has been waiting for, this opportunity.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Collins also opined on why, over the past decade, women have risen to the ranks of chief race strategist while none have reached the top of racial engineering.
“At one point, close to 50% of command positions had female strategists,” she said.
“I think there are a couple of (reasons); the diversity of experience that can affect strategists. I don't think there are enough women in engineering. So to get to the top 10 on the pit wall, it's hard to have women. There are probably more strategists doing software and math and things like that, and then more women, so that permeates the pit wall.”
“I feel some elements of decision-making and coping with pressure may be more suited to among the women who’re there.
“We don't have any female race engineers and I hope it's just a matter of time. But I think the time you put into being the voice of the driver is quite a big commitment to F1. People spend about 10, 15 years in F1 before they get to that point. And maybe by that point a lot of women leave for other reasons. But in strategy I think that's a shortcut.”
