Pirelli had imposed a 25-lap limit on each tire set in Qatar to ensure safety and prevent potential punctures. The Safety Car, deployed on lap seven to remove Nico Hülkenberg’s car, completely disrupted team strategies. Red Bull reacted immediately, bringing Max Verstappen in for a pit stop, while both McLarens stayed out on track.
McLaren’s decision
After the Qatar GP, during a media session including GP-News.net, Lando Norris explained the reasoning behind McLaren’s choice to keep both drivers out: “We both probably should have pitted. I would have done it if I could, but I would have been slowed by a double pit stop and potentially lost time. I don’t think I would have lost position, though.” He added that the decision will be reviewed internally: “It’s something we’ll talk about and go over again.”
All decisions are now deferred to Sunday, when the drivers will take to the track for the season finale. Despite the weekend’s setbacks, Lando Norris remained optimistic: “It wasn’t our best day, it wasn’t our best weekend, but I had… I don’t know if anyone saw the series of results I had before, they were great, so I put myself in this position, and I’m really happy about that.”
The McLaren #4 driver reiterated: “It wasn’t our best day, it wasn’t my best weekend in terms of driving and putting everything together, but that’s life, you know. Everyone has bad weekends, so I take it philosophically, we all take it philosophically, and we’ll see what we can do next weekend.”
Everything now comes down to Sunday in Abu Dhabi. With only 12 points separating him from Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri a further four back, Norris knows one strong performance under the Yas Marina lights could still crown him world champion for the first time.
Leave a Reply