McLaren boss Andrea Stella has lavished praise on the role that he believes Lando Norris had in team-mate Oscar Piastri‘s win in the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Piastri’s enduring struggles with his teres saw him drop back to six seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the opening stint and allowed Sergio Perez to close up.
Red Bull endeavoured to capitalise on that via an undercut attempt with Perez on Lap 14, which McLaren chose not to respond to on the next lap as Piastri continued.
McLaren’s decision to not cover Red Bull’s move threatened to see Piastri drop behind Perez until the Mexican encountered Norris, who had started 15th on the Hards.
Norris managed to disrupt Perez’s progress on fresher rubber enough to ensure Piastri emerged ahead once he made his pit stop onto the Hard compound on Lap 16.
That proved vital as Piastri was then able to close up on Leclerc and execute a bold move on the brakes into Turn 1 on Lap 20 to take the lead which won him the race.
“Perez was undercutting and effectively, without Lando’s help, Perez could have pitted ahead of Oscar, and the race could have unfolded in a completely different way,” Stella said.
“So, I think 50% of Oscar’s victory today is shared with Lando and it just shows that we are approaching racing as one team.
“We had conversations before the weekend where we would bias one way or the other.
“But we approach every weekend trying to maximise the result for the team, and if one driver needs help, the other driver will do it.”
McLaren’s points lead a ‘milestone’ moment
Piastri’s second career F1 win and Norris’ 11-place climb to fourth place has seen McLaren move above Red Bull and into the lead of the Constructors’ Championship.
The Woking-based squad sits atop the standings for the first time since 2014 and it possesses a 20-point margin as it aims to end a title drought dating back to 2008.
Stella, however, is adamant that it shouldn’t go amiss that McLaren was battling to even accumulate points during the nascent months of the Italian’s time at the helm.
“As a milestone, it’s definitely huge,” Stella added. “Because we don’t have to forget that we were last when we started last season, and now we lead the classification.
“That has been possible thanks to the hard work, and the quality of the work of the entire team,
the support from our shareholders, our partners, the fans – you achieve this because you achieve it together.”
