McLaren Formula 1 boss Andrea Stella has denied it could have mounted a greater challenge to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix without Oscar Piastri’s grid drop.
Having won at the previous round in Miami, McLaren transpired again to be the closest contender to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen across the weekend’s round at Imola.
But while Verstappen edged Piastri and team-mate Lando Norris to pole position, Sergio Perez’s premature Q2 exit granted McLaren a possible strategical advantage.
However, Piastri was demoted from the front row down to fifth as he picked up a three-position penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen’s Haas in the late stages of Q1.
Nevertheless, Stella contends that Verstappen’s pace in the opening stint – where he opened up an eight-second margin over Norris – proved it did not hinder McLaren.
Asked whether Verstappen could have been under more pressure with two cars, Stella said: “The pace Max had in the first stint on Mediums was superior to what we had.
“With Lando we minimised the race time, managing the budget of the tyres, I don’t think for us it would have been possible to play tactically with us stopping early.
“I think we played our cards well. Red Bull had a very good car, but I think we also saw the skills of the driver who won the race, and that is Max Verstappen.
“For us it is important that we can be there and knock at the door of victories in a weekend when at some stage it looked like Ferrari had the fastest car.
“And than Max appeared in quali, so it was very variable. But it is important that in the race we were there.”
Norris was tentative upon his switch to the Hard compound, but he picked up the pace in the closing exchanges to launch a late charge on Verstappen for first place.
The Briton crossed the line seven-tenths behind the Red Bull and was convinced he needed “one or two more laps” to win, but Stella was unsure with that assessment.
“I think there were 63 laps, which is many, and Max did a good job in managing his budget over the 63 laps and making sure it was enough to retain the position,” he said.
“I also think that it’s good to be in the quest for the victory at the end of the race, but ultimately if we look at the first stint Max was already opening the gap.”
Stella praised how Norris adapted to his struggles with overheating rubber in the first stint on the Hards to ensure that he was in stronger shape at the end of the race.
“I think for us, the tyres at the start of the race were too hot and we were losing ground to Verstappen,” he explained.
“But in the second stint, especially Lando, he managed to control the pace while the tyres were newer.
“The newer they are, the easier they get hotter, so there I think he was very patient not to overcook it and have decent performance at the end.”
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