McLaren Racing
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after the 2024 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Lando holds his position at the start, brushing off a challenge from Russell. Meanwhile, Oscar manages to retain seventh despite contact with Leclerc. Oscar pulls off a daring overtake of Perez around the outside of Turn 6 to take sixth. Lando pulls away from Russell and extends his gap to four seconds but is six behind Verstappen.
Lando switches from Mediums to Hards on Lap 23, returning in second. Oscar follows two laps later, making the same stop and re-joining in sixth. Oscar closes in on Hamilton and moves at Turn 3 to take net-fifth. Lando and Oscar switch to new Mediums within moments of one another on Lap 51 and return in second and fifth. Lando re-joins within striking distance of Verstappen and immediately goes on the attack, nearly passing the Red Bull on Lap 55.
Lando composes himself and makes a second attempt three laps later. He briefly takes the lead but leaves the track and returns the position to Verstappen. Lando and Verstappen continue their battle for first, but they collide and both suffer damage. Lando attempts to carry on but is forced to retire from the pits. Oscar is promoted to third as Verstappen pits for repairs and almost immediately passes Sainz for second. Oscar begins to chase down Russell, who has assumed the race lead, but runs out of time and finishes second, clinching his second podium of the season.
Lando Norris
It was a tough race! The first half was challenging because I didn’t really have the pace, but it improved in the final stint and felt very strong. I made a number of attempts to go for the win, trying to avoid collisions, but frustratingly, I got crashed into by Max, which ended my day early. There was nothing more I could do.
The team did a great job this weekend and gave a very strong race until the contact. It’s unfortunate and hurtful, but it’s time to move on to the next one. I’m looking forward to racing in front of my home fans at Silverstone. We’ll fight for another strong result to finish the triple header on a high.
Oscar Piastri
I know that’s only my fourth podium in F1, but being so close to a win hurts a little! Of course, it’s really good points, and we were very strong in the second half of the race, so overall, I’m happy with a podium in that regard – but when it’s so close at the end, you can’t help but feel disappointed.
We get another go next week at Silverstone. I have always enjoyed the track, and I have good memories of last year’s Grand Prix. It’s the team’s home race; hopefully, we can be at the front again.
Andrea Stella
We came away from this event in Austria with a double podium finish in the Sprint and a podium finish for Oscar in the main race, confirming the team’s trajectory once again. We can now contend for the top positions at every kind of circuit.
There’s quite a lot of confirmation of the strengths in the car performance, the operations, and the whole team working together to bring McLaren to the front of the grid.
At the same time, there’s also quite a bit of frustration because of what happened yesterday with Oscar’s lap deletion and today with Lando and Max’s collision. This meant we could not see this battle going to the Chequered Flag, which would have been quite exciting.
We will use this frustration to become even more determined and motivated, strengthen our strengths, and prepare for the second part of the season, which promises to be quite exciting for the papaya colours.
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