Lando Norris explains McLaren’s ‘biggest weakness’ after losing Italian GP from pole

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Lando Norris believes one of McLaren’s biggest weaknesses was on display after he lost the Italian Grand Prix from pole.

It was the seventh time that Lando Norris lost first place from the opening lap of the race, after Oscar Piastri pulled off an ambitious move at Variante della Roggia.

Norris was then overtaken by Leclerc in an opportunistic move on the exit, demoting the Briton down to third after half a lap of racing.

McLaren managed to undercut Leclerc during the first round of pit stops, but Leclerc decided to stay out for the rest of the race while Norris and Piastri pitted on a two-stop.

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The risky one-stop paid off for Leclerc and he took a second win in front of the Italian Tifosi for Ferrari, while Norris was left disappointed that a potential one-two for McLaren had slipped away.

Despite appearing to be the team to beat at recent races, Norris identified one of the main problems with their car when discussing his race with Sky Sports.

Lando Norris identifies front tyre degradation as main issue with McLaren

Former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was questioning McLaren’s strategy after the race when it appeared that they could have kept Piastri out in the lead.

Norris believes that McLaren is still struggling with front tyre degradation, which is the main reason why they did not decide the run the one-stop despite discussing it with his engineer.

“They [Ferrari] did something on the strategy we wouldn’t be able to achieve. We thought of the one-stop but we just couldn’t achieve it, our degradation was too high on the front tyres, and it’s probably a bit of a weakness for us at the minute is front tyres,” said Norris.

“Our rear is quite strong which is why we have been good at other races, but today was about front deg and we struggled too much and clearly Charles and Ferrari were better.”

McLaren employ ‘papaya rules’ to keep Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in check

One of the radio communications that stood out during the Italian GP was the message sent to both McLaren drivers which included the phrase ‘papaya rules’.

It emerged during the race that papaya rules referred to the rules of engagement between the two drivers, as was seen in the closing stages of the Hungarian GP.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

With their second and third places and Red Bull finishing sixth and seventh for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez respectively, McLaren was denied the chance of overtaking them in the Constructors’ battle.

Nico Rosberg admitted that he was worried about Red Bull’s chances, as they now face an eight-point gap having led by over 100 points earlier in the season.