Lando Norris will be walking away from the Spanish Grand Prix slightly disappointed in how it panned out, after Oscar Piastri extended his gap to 10 points in the Drivers’ Championship.
Norris arrived at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya fresh off the high of winning the Monaco Grand Prix, having closed the gap to within three points of Piastri.
A win in Spain would have put him ahead as F1 enters the mid-way point of the season, but a poor qualifying session would ultimately put Norris behind his teammate on the grid.
Norris was desperate to gain an advantage on Piastri, so much that he tried to use the Australian to gain a tow in qualifying at the start of his first lap. Piastri branded it as “cheeky” over team radio, before going on to set a time that was three tenths quicker in his final attempt.
Discussing why Norris was so eager to qualify ahead of Piastri, journalist Julianne Cerasoli revealed what engineers had told them heading into the Spanish Grand Prix when speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.
McLaren engineers reveal ‘free air’ in races worth three tenths
If the 2025 F1 season has taught us anything, it’s that ‘free air’ or ‘clean air’ is the most important thing. It is what has enabled nearly every race to be won from pole so far this season, with only Imola being an outlier.
According to Cerasoli, engineers believe that the time gain from having clean air at the start of a race could be big in the context of the race.
“The way that Oscar called it immediately, it just shows that it’s not just a minor episode, right? But yes, what Lando needs to do is just to up his game in qualifying,” said Cerasoli.
“If he qualifies in first, what the engineers have been telling us here is that being with free air gives you three tenths. Three tenths against your teammate, you’re going to win the race. So he needs to qualify better, I think that’s it.”
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
Lando Norris thinks there are still places McLaren is ‘vulnerable’
Although McLaren look like the benchmark team after finishing over half a second ahead of the competition in qualifying, Norris believes there are still areas of weakness for them.
“There are still places where we’re vulnerable, especially in qualifying, as it gets very close,” said Norris.
“Saturday was the biggest margin of the year, but I think people seem to quickly forget how close the other qualifying sessions have been. They’ve been split by hundredths and thousandths, and there hasn’t been smooth sailing for us in every single one.”
Nico Rosberg believes Piastri has solved his Achilles heel in qualifying, having struggled with it in previous seasons.
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