McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella revealed a “combination of factors” contributed to a dominant display by Lando Norris in qualifying for Formula 1‘s Austrian Grand Prix.
The Briton put the previous race’s intrateam clash with Oscar Piastri to one side to storm to pole position, and by the biggest margin of the season so far, five tenths ahead of second-place Charles Leclerc.
Piastri might have been able to have secured a front row lockout, but a brief yellow flag whilst on his final run curtailed the opportunity.
But there was no stopping Norris, who, as a result, already secured top spot, but went quicker still, with a lap he described as “easily the best lap I’ve done for this whole season.”
After the session, Stella spoke of three separate reasons that helped Norris achieve his 11th career pole in such commanding fashion.
“First of all, it was very reassuring, very encouraging to see such a strong lap time put together by Lando, and overall, to see that the two McLarens have been very competitive across pretty much every session during this weekend,” he said.
“I think there’s a combination of factors which contributed to the performance of the car being so strong, at least on a single lap and new tyres.
“I think it does have to do with the characteristics of the track. There’s a few corners here in which we could see from the GPS overlays that our car was able to carry a significant amount of speed.
“And this one, I think, has to do with where our car is optimised from a development point of view.
Stella’s second factor was purely down to Norris himself, saying: “Definitely, Lando is a little bit of a specialist in Austria. We have seen this before.”
Upgrades that ‘complete the package’ another defining reason for Spielberg pole
Stella then gave the final reason for why the MCL39, under Norris’ control, obliterated the competition – its introduction of new aerodynamic updates, as well as one for its front suspension.
“But there’s a third factor, which is the one that I would like to remark on the most, and it’s the fact that we have delivered some upgrades here,” he said.
“This is the first part of some upgrades that we will deliver as well in one of the future races to complete the upgrade package. And then, pretty much, there will be only minor things for the remainder of the season.
“This upgrade has been the result of quite a lot of work. It has not been easy to find improvements for what was already a competitive package on the MCL39.
“And I want to praise the work of the aerodynamic group in being able to ultimately finalise the geometries that seem to have performed well and elevated the performance of the car, and overall, all the team men and women at McLaren who worked hard to deliver these upgrades trackside.
“So, multiple factors, but this is only new tyres, low fuel qualifying. We will see tomorrow in the race…”
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