McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed points from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that the team needs to improve to maintain its lead in the Constructors’ Championship. Drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were reviewed, considering the errors they made during the challenging wet race.
The Interlagos race showcased a strong Red Bull comeback as Max Verstappen surged from 17th on the grid to secure victory with an impressive 19-second lead. Meanwhile, Lando Norris, who started from pole and was contending with Verstappen in the championship, faced a tough race and ultimately finished in sixth place.
In the early stages of a wet and rainy race, George Russell led with Norris close behind in second. However, a misstep occurred when both pitted right as the safety car period ended, costing them valuable positions. This allowed the Alpine drivers to advance, with Max Verstappen moving into second.
A red flag soon followed after a severe crash involving Williams driver Franco Colapinto, positioning Verstappen directly behind leader Esteban Ocon. Upon the restart, Verstappen swiftly overtook Ocon and secured the victory.
Stella identified mistakes that both Norris and Piastri committed but claimed that they met the targets of bringing both cars home in challenging conditions, thereby maintaining the team’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship, with the tally now at 593 points, 36 points ahead of Ferrari in second with 557 points. The team boss told the media:
“If I look at Lando, the main things to review are to do with his going off-track, which cost us positions.
“We did struggle with both drivers, including qualifying.
“In Q3 Oscar [Piastri] didn’t score a very strong lap because he locked [up] his last two attempts in Turn 1.
“So while we talk about drivers, we as a team have to acknowledge that we didn’t give the drivers easy material to handle in these difficult conditions.
“So I’m sure the drivers will say ‘I could have done better here or there’.”
Stella acknowledged the risk of crashing out in a wet race that saw several yellow flags and one race restart due to Colapinto’s crash. He added:
“I judge it with the fact that the message to both drivers was, ‘Let’s finish the race’.
“We need to finish the race because in races like this, it’s easy to have a problem which takes you out of the race and it’s a DNF and it’s zero points.
“Considering what we are fighting for at the moment, this is what we wanted to avoid, and I want to praise the fact that both drivers achieved this objective.”
