McLaren’s Andrea Stella admits timing on position swap was risky, nearly jeopardising the team’s outcome in the Brazilian Sprint.
Andrea Stella, McLaren F1 Team Principal, acknowledged that the timing of the position swap between Oscar Piastri, leading in Brazil, and Lando Norris towards the end of the Sprint was not ideal, as the team had indeed intended to carry it out earlier.
McLaren F1 almost missed the chance to execute it due to a late Virtual Safety Car in the Sprint, but fortunately, the swap had just taken place.
“We were monitoring the gaps with Leclerc and Verstappen to assess if a straightforward pass between Lando and Oscar could be arranged, but in reality, that gap never materialised, so we had to remain alert to any Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car scenario.”
“This ultimately arose from the incident involving Nico Hulkenberg’s car stopping on track, so we acted immediately. The team managed it well, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of both drivers.”
“We are genuinely pleased with the discussions happening now and with the support Oscar is offering Lando. It’s the best outcome we could achieve for both championships.”
“Ideally, we would have done it earlier, but the situation never arose to enable a safe swap, as any change in position would give the third-place driver an opportunity to overtake a McLaren, which wouldn’t align with our principle that the team result comes above all else.”
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McLaren’s Last-Minute Swap Avoids Sprint Disaster in Brazil McLaren’s Last-Minute Swap Avoids Sprint Disaster in Brazil
