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Despite the 1-2 victory, McLaren has mixed feelings, especially over the start of the race by Lando Norris, who lost key positions after a near-collision with Max Verstappen. The Woking-based team principal suggested that a more deliberate approach in the early corners could have turned the race around for him.
Lando Norris started from an ideal position, right next to Max Verstappen, who had the best grid position. However, his early attempt to take the lead cost him dearly. After a close battle with the Red Bull driver at the second turn, the Briton was forced to go wide, losing several positions and dropping to sixth place, even behind his teammate Oscar Piastri.
Stella explained that while Norris had reason to push, the car was competitive enough to wait for a better opportunity. "Now, looking back and taking into account the situation in the first and second turns, maybe it would have been better if Lando had just pushed hard and held second place, because the car, again in retrospect, was very fast and he would have overtaken Max, as Oscar did, and Lando was in a position to do that," boss Stella told motorsport week.
The incident began when Verstappen braked late at the first corner, allowing Norris to close in on him. But the opportunity quickly turned into a risk, and ultimately, a waste of time. Still, Stella does not hide her respect for the British aggressiveness. "I like to see Lando aggressive, trying to take the lead. Sometimes it all depends on a split second," he explains.
Norris reacts
Norris was able to work his way back through the grid and moved up to third on lap 14, just behind Piastri, who was then holding off Verstappen. However, his hopes of victory were dashed due to the Dutchman stalling while overtaking. After an overtaking attempt in turn 11, Norris crossed the track limits and had to give back the position.
"As for the second overtaking, we lost lap time, that is, race time, because we had to recover the position. It was right for us to do that because we crossed the limits of the track during the overtaking, so there are some aspects that we need to improve," he noted.
Despite this, the Italian defends Norris' quality and rejects claims that he was less effective than Piastri in overtaking situations. "I think both drivers approached the overtaking in such a way that if Lando had not gone a few centimeters wide in turn 11, he would have finished the overtaking in a similar time," he emphasized.
"That's why I don't think you should overinterpret these situations. As I said earlier, sometimes everything depends on a fraction of a second or a fraction of a meter, and the biggest loss of time happened because we had to regain position. So, I think that in terms of precision and determination when overtaking there is no difference between both drivers," concluded Andrea Stella.
English (US)