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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes victory was not thrown away at last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, shown by Mercedes’ race pace toward the end.
Norris managed to stay ahead of Russell to finish second (Image Credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images)Norris took his maiden win in Formula 1 at this year’s Miami Grand Prix. However, since then, the Briton has come agonisingly close to adding to his winning tally. The McLaren driver came close in Imola and, last weekend, at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Norris battled his way to the front in mixed conditions at the early stages of the race. The 24-year-old made moves on Max Verstappen and George Russell to go up to first.
However, himself and the team turned down the opportunity to pit under the first safety car – caused by Logan Sargeant crashing his FW46 at Turn Six. Instead, the Briton boxed the next lap, going slowly behind the safety car, while his rivals opted to box straight away.
After Norris’ pitstop, he found himself back behind Russell and Verstappen, despite having a 30-second advantage.
Was that pitstop decision costly?
Stella admitted that the safety car decision was costly. Beforethe safety car, Norris was checking out, extending his lead to Verstappen significantly. The safety car then ruined the McLaren driver’s race. However, Stella was asked if there was any other reasons that costed Norris’ second win. The Italian didn’t believe so, saying:
“Not later in the race. I think later in the race, things unfolded… Mercedes should have finished ahead of Lando.”
“So if anything, we maximised what was available after the safety car. Without the safety car, then I think Lando could have accumulated such a large advantage that then we could have tried to make it to the end on the dry tyres.”
Norris had cold tyres when trying to overcut Verstappen at the second stop (Image Credit: Kim Illman/Getty Images)The Italian suggested that even a larger gap wouldn’t have made victory certain as the track dried out. He believes that Mercedes would have caught up due to being a “few tenths of a second faster”.
“We really needed a decent advantage to make it safely to the end. But obviously, this is a little bit academic because in a race like this [with] two or three safety cars… you have to assume they will happen and also, the weather was around.
“We knew that it was going to be a race decided by various scenarios and ultimately, I think we are happy with the results.”
McLaren closed the gap to Ferrari to 40 points in the constructors’ championship. The Woking team currently sit in third.
Feature Image Credit: Chris Graythen via Getty Images
