Lewis Hamilton cost Lando Norris podium in Jeddah - McLaren

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has highlighted how Lewis Hamilton's defensive nous during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix contributed to Lando Norris missing out on a podium.

The Ferrari driver's strategic guile kept the McLaren at bay during the first phase of the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, by allowing the MCL39 past into the final corner to utilise DRS down the start/finish straight and retaking the position into Turn 1.

It was a ploy that Norris fell for twice, on laps 13 and 14, before finally making his way past the seven-time world champion at the third time of asking.

Whilst that move was only for sixth place, Hamilton, who ultimately finished seventh, held the 25-year-old up on his charge through the pack from tenth on the grid.

In the dying stages of the race, Norris came close to dispatching of Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari, but had to settle for fourth, crossing the line only a second behind the Monegasque driver.

Stella pointed out how Hamilton's race craft played a critical role in helping the Scuderia attain its first podium of the season.

"The short version is great recovery by Lando," the Italian told media including RacingNews365. "We had long discussions about the starting tyres. We elected to go on the hard tyres because we were hoping that, even if for a brief window, but we could have some possibility to exploit the pace of the car.

"On Friday, we saw that Lando was the fastest driver in terms of long run and race-based simulations, so we wanted to make sure that we were in condition to exploit this.

"And in a way, this was a good decision by Lando and the strategy guys. It actually unfolded pretty much like... you know when you do your simulations on the paper, pretty much that was the case.

"But at the same time, I think for a podium finish today, we would have needed not to lose the time with Hamilton.

"Obviously, Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton. He knows very well how to race, and for a couple of laps, he managed to pass Lando, and I think this cost us the time that ultimately meant that we could not give it a go at trying to overtake Leclerc."

Other contributing factors

Nonetheless, Stella was quick to highlight how "impressive" Leclerc's pace was in race trim, something that gave McLaren confidence in its own strategy for Norris.

The 54-year-old also underlined how crucial the "strong" performance for the British driver will have been for his frame of mind.

"At the same time, Leclerc and Ferrari, they were very fast," he said. "Well done to Ferrari on their first podium [of the season],"

"Very deserved, in a way, by the race pace that they exhibited, especially at the end of the first stint. That was quite impressive, because we didn't think that the medium tyres could behave like that.

"But in a way, he also gave us the confidence that the final stint of Lando would have been strong - and indeed, it was strong.

"There was not much degradation. This allowed him [Lando] to pass Russell. But ultimately, I think the time lost with Hamilton, and the fact that Leclerc had such a strong pace, meant that we couldn't recover to the podium.

"Yet, great recovery, important points for the championship, and also, I think, important for Lando's morale.

"It shows his race craft is absolutely brilliant. And like he said, on the in lap, we just have to polish the Saturdays a little bit, and we will have fun."