NEW DELHI: Lando Norris’s hopes of winning a first-ever Drivers Championship took a serious hit at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix when Max Verstappen drove all the way from P17 to P1 to win his first race since June. According to McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella, the team had always prioritised the Constructors' Championship and Norris’ title hopes were secondary for the team.
“In terms of the Constructors’ Championship, I don’t think it changes anything because it was always our priority. Even when there was a call to be made to support one driver or the other, it was always secondary to actually maximising the Constructors’ Championship, ” said Stella to Motorsport Week.
Lando Norris was seemingly in top form heading into Sunday's race after winning the Sprint Race and qualifying at pole positions. However, George Russell's Mercedes overtook the McLaren car on the first lap, and the British driver could not recover.
Lando now sits 62 points behind Max Verstappen with only three races to go in Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. However, the team is still leading the constructors' championship with 593 points to their name thanks to a P11 finish for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and a DNF for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
“Now clearly we will have to analyse the points. Mathematically we are still in the championship – I haven’t looked at the classification, I hope I’m not wrong but it shouldn’t be the case. I think for Lando and for Oscar [Piastri] we will try and go to the next races trying to win the races.
“I think the last two venues should be quite good, Vegas will be potentially more of a Ferrari track, we will see. But all to play for and the Constructors’ Championship remains, and has always been our priority, ” Stella added.
Many criticized Lando Norris for not making the most of the huge opportunity that presented itself to cut into Verstappen’s lead and claimed pressure to be the reason behind his dismal performance but Stella defended the McLaren star by stating the car may have been the reason behind both Piastri and Lando’s performance.
“When it comes to the Drivers’ Championship, I don’t think for Lando there was any particular pressure, To be honest, we were enjoying this quest.
“Sometimes from the outside, it may come across like, ‘Oh there was an error there’. It’s just when you lock the tyres with a car we had today, I’m not looking at the drivers, I’m looking at why the car keeps locking the tyres in conditions like this. So I don’t think pressure was a significant factor at all, ” he concluded.