McLaren Racing’s Lando Norris says it was a very good day for the Woking-based outfit in Brazil after he scored his seventh podium finish of the season in Sao Paulo on Sunday. The Englishman started the race from sixth place and came home in second place behind Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen who scored his 17th win of the season.
Speaking following the race, Norris commented saying:
“A very good day, it couldn’t have gone much better to be honest. Good pace, similar to yesterday, which is the main thing, and a much better start at the beginning to get from sixth to second. P2 is as good as we can get at the moment and for the time being, but I’m very happy to consistently be challenging for podiums. Thanks for everyone’s hard work both at track and the factory in what’s been a long but enjoyable triple header.”
It was a difficult race for Oscar Piastri who started the race in tenth place and came home in 14th place, speaking following the action he commented by saying:
“A difficult race for me today. Unfortunately, it was essentially over before it began, after the contact from behind that I couldn’t avoid. The team did an incredible job getting the car turned around to get me back out after the red flag. 71 laps at a circuit I haven’t driven at before is extremely useful for my learning, and I hope to see the fruits of the team’s hard work today when we return next year. After that, we just needed a safety car to unlock us, which sadly never came. On to the next one in Las Vegas.”
McLaren Racing heads to Las Vegas in two weeks’ time in fourth place in the championship, 21 points and speaking following the race on Sunday, Team Principal Andrea Stella said:
After a challenging afternoon for the team, we come away with strong points and more silverware. On Lando’s side, we have somewhat mixed feelings. On the one hand we can be satisfied that he was the only car quick enough to contend with Verstappen. But over the course of the race, we have to accept that he still has a little bit of a performance advantage and we still have some work to do to close that gap. Overall, an impressive drive from Lando and important points for the team.
“On Oscar’s side, his race was unfortunately compromised after being caught up in someone else’s incident at the start. The team did an exceptional job to repair the substantial damage to Oscar’s car during the red flag and get him back out for the remainder of the race. Despite this, Oscar’s car was still carrying damage to important aerodynamic components and carried a significant lap-time deficit throughout the entire race. Nevertheless, it was a useful exercise for him to gain experience at a track he has never raced at before.
“After this long triple header, my thanks go to the entire team, both trackside and at MTC, and to our colleagues at HPP for their dedication and continued support. We come away with 63 points from a selection of racetracks that we knew didn’t necessarily suit our car, which is encouraging in terms of our general competitiveness. Time now to reset and prepare for the final double-header of the season, starting in Las Vegas in two weeks’ time.