Stella proud of McLaren way as Norris helps Piastri to victory in Baku
F1 News
Even as McLaren have announced ahead of the Italian Grand Prix that they will begin to favour Lando Norris to fight againts Max Verstappen for the world title, in Baku, the Briton had to support Oscar Piastri during the Grand Prix. Team principal Andrea Stella explained why they asked Norris to do a favour for the Australian, who eventually managed to earn his second F1 victory last Sunday.
As the first pit stops were made, on an alternative strategy, Norris stayed out for longer, and therefore was asked to slow down Sergio Perez. At that point, Perez has already switched to the hard tyres with also trying to understand Piastri.
"Well, that message was because of Perez, because Perez was undercutting. Effectively, without Lando's help, Perez could have pitted ahead of Oscar, and the race could have unfolded in a completely different way. So I think 50% of Oscar's victory today is shared with Lando," Stella began to explain to GPblog among others.
The Italian team principal was satisfied with how his team operated this Grand Prix. "It just shows that we are approaching racing as one team. We had a conversation before the weekend where we would bias one way or the other. But for us, we approach every weekend trying to maximise the result for the team, and if one driver needs help, we will do it. and the other driver will do it. I think that's a point of strength for us when you compete in such a tight competition."
Stella appreciates crucial move by Piastri
According to Stella, not only Norris' help was important, but also that Piastri managed to overtake Charles Leclerc at the right time. "I think, apart from the overtaking that Oscar was able to do on Leclerc, I think whoever was in the lead could have won the race today, because it was much, much easier on the tyres to be in the lead than following. We saw that Leclerc finished the tyres, and you finish the tyres because you need to ask the tyres what you're going to lose from an aerodynamic point of view when you are one second behind for so many laps," he concluded.
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