McLaren’s Miami GP radio messages show the scars of Qatar GP tactical error

The trauma McLaren suffered with their disastrous tactical call in last year’s Qatar Grand Prix clearly left a mark.

The team’s radio exchanges to both drivers during the Safety Car period last weekend revealed how concerned they were of repeating one of the most jaw-dropping mistakes of last season.

Six rounds earlier, in the penultimate grand prix of last season, McLaren’s strategic slip-up imperilled their drivers’ title hopes and handed victory to rival Max Verstappen, setting up a tense three-way decider.

The team’s cars were running first and third in Losail, sandwiching Verstappen, when the Safety Car appeared on lap seven. On the face of it, this was perfectly-timed, given the one-off rules in place for the race.

Fears over tyre failures had prompted F1 to impose maximum stint lengths of 25 laps. Given the 57-lap race distance, a low-cost first pit stop under the Safety Car on lap seven looked like a no-brainer.

But as the queue of cars neared the pit lane entrance, McLaren debated themselves out of what looked like an obvious call. They left Piastri and Norris out, reasoning they could lose time pulling back into the busy pit lane if the field pitted en masse.

The decision backfired as every other driver bar one peeled into the pits. McLaren salvaged second for Piastri and a fortunate fourth for Norris. A week later, a relieved Norris sealed one of the closest ever title wins over Verstappen (the narrowest ever, in relative terms).

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McLaren weren’t in the same situation when the Safety Car was deployed early on in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix. But the situation was comparable – and McLaren’s radio messages had a telling difference to their rivals’.

The Safety Car was deployed shortly after the leaders began on lap six on Sunday, in response to separate crashes involving Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly. All the teams therefore had ample time to consider their reaction to the neutralisation of the race.

As the lap began, Norris passed Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes to take up second place behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Piastri in the second McLaren lay fifth behind George Russell’s Mercedes.

Verstappen lay eighth following his spin on the first lap. If anyone had an incentive to attempt an early pit stop to switch to hard rubber and attempt to run to the end of the race it was him, as his spin had taken more life out of his tyres.

Sure enough, Red Bull brought him in. Those ahead stayed out, but McLaren weighed their options very carefully.

Leclerc

Race leader Leclerc was first to the pit lane entrance. Unlike everyone else, he did not have the luxury of being able to react to the call of a driver ahead of him.

Ferrari took the call without consulting Leclerc. They likely did not want to give their rivals any insight into how they were going to respond. Leclerc’s race engineer Bryan Bozzi waited until he was at turn 17, nearing the pit lane entrance, to confirmed he should not pit.

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Norris

McLaren’s radio chatter contrasted sharply with Ferrari’s. They invited Norris’s view and discussed their options, coming down on the side of not pitting.

But McLaren remained wary of making the wrong call. As Norris reached the pit lane entrance they told him that if Leclerc came in, he should do the same. They gave him the same instruction again a few seconds later, underlining their eagerness not to repeat their mistake from Qatar.

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Antonelli

Mercedes’ approach was more like Ferraris: no discussion, just a simple instruction not to pit.

Piastri

Piastri, fourth, had a similar conversation on his radio to his team mate’s but briefer. Again McLaren told him to copy what the cars ahead of him did – it’s not clear how they expected him to react if only some of those ahead had pitted:

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Hamilton

Ferrari’s second car was not leading the race but they gave Lewis Hamilton the same instruction. Again there was no discussion of an alternative and no intrsuction for him to copy his rivals:

Verstappen

Red Bull did pit Verstappen from eighth place, but they too made their own minds up and gave no regard to what the others were doing. That said, had they seen other cars ahead pit, they would have had the option to leave him out. The fact none of the others did only made bringing him in a more appealing move.

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2026 Miami Grand Prix

• Miami stats: Mercedes have now won at every track on the F1 calendar – so far
• F1 drivers say they are still at the mercy of their power units over a flying lap
• McLaren’s Miami GP radio messages show the scars of Qatar GP tactical error
• ‘This is not the level F1 should be’: Norris tells F1 to ‘ditch the battery’
• Lawson was right: Racing Bulls should not have ordered him to let Verstappen past

Browse all 2026 Miami Grand Prix articles