McLaren call for ‘review’ after Norris obstacles

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has highlighted a number of elements for the team to review following a difficult round in São Paulo.

Lando Norris ended the race in sixth place while F1 title rival Max Verstappen extended his lead with arguably a career-best drive from 17th to take the chequered flag.

Norris was running in second behind leader George Russell in his Mercedes before pitting under a virtual safety car, costing him positions when the race was red-flagged soon after.

At a later safety car restart, Norris dropped from fifth to seventh at Turn 1 after slipping off the track, putting him on the back foot.

While Stella acknowledged the on-track mistake, he asserted the team was to blame for some shortcomings during the weekend.

“If I look at Lando, the main things to review are to do with his going off-track, which cost us positions,” Stella told media including RacingNews365. “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 at least offers praise

The race in São Paulo was held in treacherous conditions, with several drivers spinning into a wall during the grand prix.

McLaren entered the race with a lead over Ferrari in the constructors' championship as it aims to score its first title in 26 years.

With the rain providing the drivers with a significant challenge, Stella asserted the team's priority was to ensure both cars reached the finish line.

“I judge it with the fact that the message to both drivers was, ‘Let’s finish the race’,” Stella said.

“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.”