McLaren team boss Andrea Stella believes that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris should primarily focus on minimizing damage in Sunday’s race in Canada. The British team experienced a disappointing qualifying session in Montreal on Saturday.
Championship leader Piastri will start third on Sunday, behind polesitter George Russell and Max Verstappen. His teammate and competitor Norris starts the race only in seventh after a poor final lap in qualifying. It is the first time this year that McLaren is not on the front row.
Piastri was still hopeful about his chances of winning in Montreal. “In the race we are generally at our best,” he said afterwards at a press conference. “But the two drivers in front of me were very fast, so it won’t be easy. But I think we will definitely compete for the win.”
His team boss Stella expressed himself much more cautiously about McLaren’s chances of winning in front of the camera. “My view has completely changed for the race,” he said afterwards to the British sports channel Sky Sports.
“I think we will be much better in the race because our race pace is higher. But let’s wait and see how it goes. This weekend we may just have to limit the damage.”
Norris admits to making major mistakes
Norris was the most disappointed of everyone at McLaren. “I made a few big mistakes,” he admitted afterwards. “I hit the wall in the first and last lap. Those mistakes did me in.”
Yet Norris also had to admit that McLaren “was not as fast as usual”. “We might not have had the car for a pole position, but the car was fast enough for a place in the top three. A podium place will now be difficult. We don’t have the speed of the past races.”
Stella was critical of Norris. “Lando was just pulling too hard. I think he felt that the speed was there. But if you pull too hard on this circuit, you can pay a hefty price.”