Andrea Stella has made it clear that Lewis Hamilton would have won the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix even without the virtual safety car, leaving McLaren to question whether it chose the right strategy.
Lando Norris started the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix from fourth but capitalised on Kimi Antonelli's late retirement to secure his first podium since Miami.
Norris' third-place finish brought an end to a run of back-to-back retirements, representing valuable points for the Woking-based team.
What was particularly encouraging for McLaren in Spain was that the reigning world champion remained within touching distance of George Russell and Antonelli throughout the race.
Norris followed the same two-stop strategy as Mercedes, with McLaren attempting an undercut. However, it proved to be to no avail due to the team's lack of outright pace.
While the Silver Arrows were within reach, Norris and McLaren had no answer to Hamilton, who committed to a three-stop strategy.
His victory was aided by a well-timed virtual safety car; however, McLaren team principal Stella believes the seven-time world champion would have won regardless.
Discussing Norris' strategy, Stella explained to select media, including RacingNews365: "Well, in terms of playing with the strategy from an undercut point of view, we actually tried to stay as close as possible to Mercedes so we could attempt an undercut. In a way, we did it, but it wasn't successful.
"From that point of view, I think we tried everything that was within our means. If anything, the question in hindsight is whether we should have gone for a three-stop strategy. What was the right strategy?
"At one stage, when we saw that the hard tyres were performing well in the second stint, we thought the two-stop would be a way, at least, to try to limit Hamilton.
"But, as a matter of fact, Hamilton was fast—probably the fastest car out there—and I think he would have won anyway. He definitely would have won with the three-stop."
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