McLaren to review Sunday's fateful pit stop timing
11/05/2024 07:34 AM
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has insisted that the squad has no regrets about its decision to pit Lando Norris from P2 in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix when they did, just before the race was red flagged.
Norris had started from pole but dropped to second after a first corner pass by Mercedes driver George Russell. Both opted to pit when the race was briefly placed under a Virtual Safety Car for Nico Hulkenberg halting on track.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly all stayed out and inherited the top three positions when the race was subsequently red flagged for Franco Colapinto's crash as conditions worsened.
That left Norris down in fifth place after the restart, and he subsequently lost another place after spinning in treacherous conditions, while Verstappen went on to win the race and all-but secure the 2024 title.
McLaren will now spend the next few days analysing what went wrong in Brazil, and whether they made the right decisions at key moments.
"There's a few things we need to look into from our side," Stella told Viaplay. "We felt it was the right thing to pit when so much water was coming, and we don't regret that.
"It was a cautious pit stop," Stella admitted. "It ultimately paid off for the cars behind us that took a bit of risk of staying out and then the red flag kind of resetting the race."
The final outcome was a major disappointment for the team after winning the sprint race the day before, and looking set to score big over Verstappen and cut into the Dutch driver's lead in the title standings.
"Obviously when you start in pole position, you always hope that you can finish P1," Stella said. "But the race has been very eventful, and some of the events didn't play to our favour.
"This means that actually we finished far from the podium, but still with good points," he insisted, adding: "It was important to stay in the race.
"If we look at the constructors' championship, it's important that we out-score Ferrari and this sets the situation strongly for the final part of the season."
For his part, Norris told Sky Sports F1 that Verstappen had "got a bit lucky" with a rule that few support, insisting it would have been ridiculous for McLaren to gamble on staying out in worsening conditions.
"It was just unlucky," said Norris, adding: "I don't care about the hindsight side of things.
"They [Red Bull] got lucky on a rule that no one agrees with," Norris said of Red Bull's good fortune with the red flag. "Probably they agreed with it today but every driver has disagreed with it in the past.
"Today it benefitted them," he said. "It could have benefitted us if we'd just stayed out. But that's a stupid thing to think of. Just a bit unlucky today, nothing more. Of course it's disappointing."
The result means that Norris is now 62 points behind Verstappen with three Grands Prix and one sprint remaining. While not mathematically decided, it means the title looks set to be going to Verstappen for a fourth season in a row.
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