Norris: This start was a pleasant surprise for me!

In Sao Paulo, Lando Norris finished second and was again recognized as driver of the day, and rightly so. The McLaren driver drove a great race and only Max Verstappen was faster than him. Lando crossed the finish line more than eight seconds behind the three-time world champion, but was almost 26 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso, who finished third.

Lando Norris (2nd): “The race went well, it could hardly have been much better. Just like yesterday, we showed a good pace today and that was the most important thing, but the start was clearly better, because from sixth position I immediately made my way to second place.

This start was a pleasant surprise for me! Yesterday in the sprint I didn’t start so well, so I tried to work on it, and everything worked out, and on the restart I was a little more aggressive.

Overall I’m happy because so far we haven’t gotten further than second place. During the course there were short periods where the tires worked more or less effectively and it was possible to attack, but it seemed that Max was always able to respond to our attempts. It is of course a shame, but to be honest we have to admit that he drove a good race.”

Oscar Piastri (14th): “I was unlucky at the start; an accident happened behind me and I unknowingly got involved. There is nothing special to note here. Unfortunately, if you start far enough from pole based on the results of qualifying, your situation essentially depends largely on others. This is exactly what happened today.

I rode most of the race alone, but I tried to keep learning. I simply have no words to express my gratitude to the McLaren mechanics, who managed to fix my car during the race stoppage, and I completed 70 laps on a track I had never raced on this weekend. It was a very enriching experience.

Overall we treated this race more as a test session, trying to get more information about the performance of the tires, and in that respect we did a good job.”