Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished sixth and eighth in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix race. McLaren F1 therefore recorded a disappointing performance and, according to its director Andrea Stella, the MCL38 lacked the performance to achieve a better result.
“It was an eventful day in Sao Paulo, which is unsurprising given the variable conditions. Congratulations to Max, who made an impressive comeback from the back of the grid, and to Alpine for their double podium finish ” Stella said.
“The circumstances did not work in our favor at Interlagos. The moment of the red flag in particular, after changing tires, was unfortunate. It was difficult to progress, both for Lando and Oscar.”
“We didn't give them a car fast enough to overtake in the race without DRS being activated. Unfortunately, we also took a penalty when Oscar made contact with Liam Lawson, which cost us a position at the end of the race.”
Despite the red flag being a disadvantage for McLaren, Stella insisted they did not regret their decision to pit Norris.
“There are a few things we need to look at on our side. We have to say we lost some positions with the red flag, we felt it was the right thing to do when so much water was coming. And we don't We don't regret it. It was a careful stop. It finally paid off for the cars behind us who took a bit of a risk by staying on the track, and then the red flag sort of restarted the race. lessons to be learned, but also positives.”
Although this result likely dealt a fatal blow to Norris's championship hopes, McLaren increased its lead over Ferrari at the top of the constructors' standings. Stella said this eased the team's disappointment.
“Obviously when you start from pole position you always hope that you can finish in 1st place. The race was very eventful and some events didn't work in our favor which meant we finished far from the podium. But still with good points.”
“It was important to stay in the race. If we look at the constructors' championship it is important that we outperform Ferrari and that gives a good position for the latter part of the season.”
The Italian therefore remains hopeful and draws a positive conclusion from the weekend.
“Overall, we come out of this weekend having increased our lead in the constructors’ championship as I said.”
“The competition is incredibly tough this year, so I really want to congratulate Lando and Oscar for their work, for staying on track, for finishing the race and for putting us ahead of our closest rivals.”
“A big thank you also to everyone at Woking for making the improvements and updates over the last three races, and a big thank you to the whole team for their efforts and great work during this busy hat-trick of races .”
“There are things to learn going forward, and we will do that in the days to come. Our attention now shifts to the last three races of the season.”
