Stella: In qualifying everything depended on the driver’s skill

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella commented on the qualifying results, which determined the starting order in the sprint: Lando Norris will start from pole in Saturday’s short race.

Question: May I congratulate you on an excellent result?
Andrea Stella: I think we have to congratulate Lando first of all, because in conditions like today everything depended on the skill of the driver, on how he would handle it. And Lando did it, so he’s great. Oscar Piastri also did well, but unfortunately his car’s gearbox shifted to neutral at the exit of the hairpin bend due to wheel slip.

Apparently he lost a lot of time for this reason, and if this wasn’t the case, both McLaren drivers could have been in high starting positions in tomorrow’s sprint. However, overall the qualifying went well for our team.

Question: Help me figure out why Lando’s time was deleted first, but then his result was restored?
Andrea Stella: We believe this was due to him going off track on the last corner of the previous lap, and the stewards may have decided that this off-track run could have had some effect on the next lap, where Lando set his pole time. But he rode this last lap flawlessly, there were no problems at all.

Question: Did you have to contact the FIA, or did they themselves decide that leaving the track would not give Norris any advantage?
Andrea Stella: The FIA ​​​​has itself restored the time of its last lap, because if you fly off the track in the last corner, you start the next lap at a much lower speed. Lando even lost three tenths because he ended up off the track in the last corner.

Q: We have to assume you’re happy the stewards have changed their minds?
Andrea Stella: We are of course happy that we will start the sprint from pole position! Lando fully deserves it and I hope everyone at McLaren can enjoy today’s success.