McLaren team boss Andrea Stella is convinced that even if Lando Norris had had a better start than Max Verstappen, he still could not have won the sprint race. The Italian acknowledges that Verstappen was too fast for Norris to fight later in the sprint race.
“I have the feeling that it would have been very difficult,” the team boss admits honestly. Norris had a good start during the sprint race in Brazil, but was unable to keep Verstappen behind him. ‘Our speed was good until halfway through the race. In fact, we had a minimal deficit. We even considered attacking for a moment,” Stella told Motorsport.com.
The team boss believes that even if Norris had stayed ahead of Verstappen, the McLaren driver would have had little chance of crossing the finish line first. “If the situation had been the other way around, we would undoubtedly have been attacked by Verstappen,” Stella admits that Verstappen was unbeatable on Saturday.
Fighting back on Sunday
Norris will start the main race on Sunday from sixth place, after qualifying in Q3 was halted due to weather conditions. However, on Saturday the team proved that there is more to it than on Friday, which gives the team some extra hope to score as many points as possible on Sunday.
The McLaren team has already discussed with Norris what can be improved on his starts, so that they can learn from this experience and apply it in the main race on Sunday. “Lando and his engineer will look at the data to see where there are opportunities for improvement,” Stella revealed. The team boss indicates that this could be due to several things. “It may have to do with the way he releases the clutch in the final phase, but it could also be due to the gears,” the Italian himself explains as the reason for the poorer start.
Verstappen can take his seventeenth win of the season this weekend in Brazil. Also betting on F1? Register now at JACKS and receive 60 euros in free bets! If you play responsibly, you keep it fun. What does gambling cost you? Stop on time, 18+
