McLaren’s Andrea Stella explained why they didn’t pit Norris late in the race to improve his fastest lap time. Ricciardo took the bonus point from Norris, but it didn’t help Ricciardo in the Championship as he finished outside the top ten.
Norris had a huge lead during the Grand Prix, almost half a minute at one point, and won by nearly 21 seconds. Could he have pitted for fresh tires? Here’s what Stella said after the Singapore Grand Prix.
Why Norris Stayed Out
“No, in the second part of the second stint, our attention was drawn on the fact that as soon as you got behind the backmarkers, the car started to feel tricky,” Stella said. “So it was all about no issues, no mistakes, no lock-up. We had seen already in practice that as soon as you are behind a slow car, things look like there’s something wrong with the car. It’s just the effect of the dirty air.”
For McLaren, bringing home their MCL-38 without problems was key. “We suggested to Lando to have an attempt at the fastest lap, which he achieved, but after that, we didn’t want to talk about fastest lap anymore,” Stella added.
Fans might think this was a missed opportunity for Norris.
The gap is now at 52 points with six Grand Prix weekends left, including three sprints. What do you think about this strategy?
