Stella defends Norris and Piastri and blames the lack of pace for dismal result at Sao Paulo

On the back of a tough race for the Woking-based outfit, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has defended Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and blamed the lack of pace for the dismal result at Sao Paulo.

Lando Norris almost failed to make it out of Q1, but he then displayed an impressive performance to secure pole position for the race. The Briton then lost the lead before the first corner after Mercedes rival George Russell had got a better start.

He was stuck in second for much of the first stint, pitting along with Russell under the VSC. TheVSC was then changed to a full safety car intervention before a heavy crash for Franco Colaponto brought out the red flag.

The red flag period meant that those, who did not pit, gained a lot, and Norris found himself in P4 behind Esteban Ocon, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly. He then lost three places at the restart to Russell, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri after skating off at Turn 1. Although Piastri later let him by, he couldn’t climb back up the field from there, coming home a disappointing sixth.

Speaking of his disappointing race in Brazil, Lando Norris added: "A tough afternoon. Pitting under the VSC was pivotal but it was the right time to box, and we were unlucky that the Red Flag followed soon after, so I have no regrets about stopping when I did.

"With the Red Flag rule regarding tyre changes, some days you gain, and some days you lose, it just is what it is. These things happen in racing. The main thing now is that we keep our heads down and prepare for the next one as a team.”

His team-mate Oscar Piastri lacked pace in the intitial stages of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, and finished down in P7 after the 69-lap race. However, he was demoted to P8 after serving a ten-second penalty.

"A tricky afternoon but we got points with both cars, and we’ve stayed ahead in the Championship. We just lacked pace and the weather caused havoc, so there wasn’t much more we could have done.

"We’ll review it all this evening but I’m looking forward to a bit of a reset and we can then go again in Vegas. We’ve still got a lot of work to do in the final three races.”

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has defended Norris and Piastri, and blamed the lack of pace for the dismal result at Sao Paulo. Moreover, the Italian reckoned that red-flag conditions were particularly unfortunate for McLaren, while it helped their direct rivals Red Bull.

“It’s been an eventful day in São Paulo, which is not surprising given the variable conditions. Congratulations to Max, who made an impressive recovery from the back of the grid, and also to Alpine for a double-podium finish.

“Circumstances didn’t play-out in our favour today. The timing of the Red Flag in particular, after we’d changed tyres, was unfortunate. It was difficult to make progress today, for both Lando and Oscar.

"We didn’t give them a car that had enough pace to overtake in a race without the DRS being activated. Unfortunately, we also picked up a penalty when Oscar made contact with Liam Lawson, which cost us a position at the end of the race.

“Overall, however, we come out of this weekend having increased our margin in the Constructors’ Championship. It’s an incredibly tough competition this year, so I really want to praise the work of Lando and Oscar today, for staying on track, finishing the race, and allowing us to outscore our nearest rivals.

"Also, to everyone back in Woking for delivering the upgrades and updates over the last three races, and a big thank you to all the team for their efforts and the great work in this busy triple header.

“There’s learning to take onboard for today, and we’ll do that in the days ahead. Our focus now shifts to the final three races of the season," concluded Stella.