McLaren have “no regrets” over pitting Lando Norris just before red flag

McLaren have no regrets over the timing of their decision to pit Lando Norris at the F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris started from pole position hoping to capitalise on title rival Max Verstappen starting down in 17th to make further gains in the championship, but the race did not go as planned for the McLaren driver.

After losing the lead to Mercedes’ George Russell at the start, both drivers lost out when they stopped for fresh intermediate tyres just as a Virtual Safety Car ended. A red flag a few laps later hampered them further, enabling those who had not pitted - including Verstappen - to make a free tyre change.

Verstappen took full advantage to complete a brilliant comeback victory, while Norris slipped to sixth at the chequered flag - a result which effectively ends his faltering title hopes.

“There’s a few things we need to look into from our side,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella told Viaplay.

“We have to say that some of the positions we lost with the red flag, we felt it was the right thing to pit when so much water was coming. And we don’t regret that.

“It was a cautious pit stop. It ultimately paid for the cars behind us that took a bit of risk of staying out, and then the red flag kind of reset the race. So some learning to take on board, but also some positives.”

Stella added: “Obviously, when you start in pole position, you always hope that you can finish P1. The race has been very eventful and some of the events didn’t play to our favour and this means that actually we finished far from the podium. But still with good points.

“It was important to stay in the race. If we look at the constructors’ championship, it’s important that we out-score Ferrari and this sets the situation strongly for the final part of the season.”

Norris said Verstappen “got a bit lucky” with a rule “no one agrees with” and insisted it would have been “stupid” for him to stay out in the worsening conditions.

"I have faith in the team in what they are saying and they have trust in me,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.

"It was just unlucky. I don't care about the hindsight side of things, that's luck for them, nothing more. They [Red Bull] got lucky on a rule that no one agrees with. Probably they agreed with it today but every driver has disagreed with it in the past.

"Today it benefitted them, it could have benefitted us if we just stayed out, but that's a stupid thing to think of. Just a bit unlucky today, nothing more. Of course, disappointing."