Stella judges Verstappen-Piastri incident: 'Felt unnecessary'
F1 News
For the first time since 1998, McLaren are the constructors' champions in Formula 1. Even as Ferrari claimed a 'double podium' in Abu Dhabi, Lando Norris' victory secured the victory for the papaya-coloured squad. Team principal Andrea Stella reacted to his team's performance at the Yas Marina Circuit.
While McLaren were in a good position after qualifying, the Turn 1 incident between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen and also Charles Leclerc gaining many positions on Lap 1 could cause some discomfort.
"The first thought I had after checking corner one is that it felt unnecessary. When you have teams fighting for the championship, it's the pinnacle, it's the time to harvest the efforts of a season. That felt a little unnecessary, but sometimes adversities give you the opportunity to show your strengths," Andrea Stella reacted to the first incident to GPblog among others in Abu Dhabi.
He continued: "I think that's exactly what happened today. First of all because Oscar never gave up and he came back to scoring a point that could have been very important, if not the two points that could have been decisive even in case of a swap between Carlos and Lando," first praising the Australian.
Stella also praises Norris and final pit stop
"Lando showed his strengths delivering a perfect weekend and a perfect race when all the pressure was on him. He stayed very calm. Very calm on the radio. He considered some difficult options that we gave him, like when we said, would you pit in case of safety car or not for a new set. I think we saw Lando at his best and his best is incredibly competitive," he said about the Briton who won his fourth Grand Prix this Sunday.
The Italian team principal also wanted to point out an important moment. "The whole season was in the last [Norris] pit stop. A problem at the pit stop and we could have lost the position to Carlos, and we could have lost the championship. The guys delivered what I think is one of the best pit stops of the season, confirming the trajectory, which was not only car performance but was the overall maturity, mentality, emotional resilience of the entire team. So all this somehow was given the opportunity to be shown thanks to the accident in corner one."
"I can't wait to see Lando and Oscar in the future with a competitive car right from race one," he said about next season. "Hopefully in the future we don't need adversities, and we can have a faster car and we can be just safer and not being in a decisive race at the last races of the season," Stella concluded.
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