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After the end of the Brazilian Sprint race, where Oscar Piastri handed him victory two laps before the checkered flag, Lando Norris said he was “not proud” of the victory, and explained whether he had the speed to pass the Australian in a on equal terms fighting each other.
After expressing his gratitude to his McLaren counterpart Oscar Piastri, Norris spoke of Piastri’s move to give him victory in the Interlago Sprint Round 22: “I’m not proud of it, but we worked well as a team, so I thank Oscar. We did a great job as a team. Today was the result we wanted.
Oscar deserved it, but we do what we have to, so thanks to him, and to the team. We had a great pace and I’m looking forward to qualifying and the race tomorrow.”
When asked if he had the pace to pass Piastri during the Sprint, Norris replied: “It’s difficult to say. It was like followingysa at alternating speeds, I would approach and then fall behind again. Dirty air costs you a lot of lap time.
“I felt a bit faster, but I couldn’t overtake at that moment. I felt good, I think we were obviously faster than those behind, but in a Sprint like this it’s difficult – to manage and push, things like that. We executed it well”Norris concluded.
Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris in opening laps of 2024 Brazil Sprint
AP PHOTO/ETTORE CHIEREGUINI
What Piastri and Stella said
For his part, Oscar Piastri said that everything developed as it was agreed in the interior of the team in advance: “It was a bit of a tough race to be honest, we were just trying to learn as much as we could for tomorrow.” said the Australian.
“The team’s result was of course what we wanted and what we had discussed before the match. I think everything went according to plan and we learned a lot for tomorrow”he concluded.
As for the manager of McLaren F1, Andrea Stella, he said after the end on the F1 TV show that the Hebrew team succeeded“the better result that we could have for both leagues”.
And indeed, looking at the standings, in the battle for the drivers’ championship Norris reduced his gap to Verstappen to 45 points, and McLaren increased its lead over Ferrari to 45 points.
McLaren F1 director Andrea Stella
MCLAREN MEDIA CENTRE
Stella then explained why McLaren waited until lap 22 – just before the Virtual Safety Car – to make their two driver changes in the top two positions: “This was a clear discussion we had with our two guides. Both guides are consistent with this approach and they fully support her.
We are ather very fortunate position to have not only two fast drivers, but also two excellent team players. Regarding pexecuting the change, that depends on where the others are. Sufficient difference between second and third never materialized.
So we had to wait, but as soon as we saw the possibility of a Virtual Safety Car or Safety Car, we immediately went ahead with the change. The Sprint went essentially according to plan. There’s always a bit of tension, it’s a Formula 1 race – it would be weird if it wasn’t!”added the Italian.
And finally, he hinted that the team will issue such orders again if a similar scenario arises during the rest of the season: “If you’re a Formula 1 driver and you’re second, you’re always going to be a bit nervous, so we deeply respect that part.
But as I said before, our conversations have always been, not only this morning but also in the previous races, extremely constructive and cohesive and will certainly remain so for the rest of the weekend and the final part of the season.”concluded Andrea Stella.
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