McLaren crew principal Andrea Stella believes trackside marshals made a mistake in exhibiting Lando Norris yellow flags on his closing flying lap in Q1 that resulted in him being knocked out of qualifying and in seventeenth place on the beginning grid.
Norris had slipped into the drop zone in a surprisingly aggressive opening phase to qualifying however was on the right track to comfortably progress to Q3 as he exited Flip 15. A small mistake on the closing braking zone, Flip 16, had him sail huge over the exit curbs, costing him appreciable time launching onto the 1.4-mile entrance straight.
Onboard footage then reveals Norris lifting via the flat-out Flip 17-18 chicane as he passes the slow-moving Esteban Ocon, who was travelling effectively off the race line with a puncture.
Ordinarily, vehicles returning to pit lane off the race line are coated with waved white flags, notifying drivers of a slow-moving automobile however not requiring them to take avoiding motion.
“Lando had somewhat mistake out of the final nook, however above all we discovered within the high-speed chicane a yellow flag and he determined to abort the lap,” Stella advised SiriusXM. “The yellow flag is because of Ocon going slowly, however for such a state of affairs we don’t suppose {that a} yellow flag is required, as a result of he’s going at a gradual tempo however there is no such thing as a threat for anyone. It’s like when somebody is on an in-lap and they’re going slowly.
“I feel for this sort of state of affairs a yellow flag will not be required.”
Stella stated he anticipated the FIA upon reflection to agree that yellows had been proven to Norris in error.
“When it comes to what we are able to do, we are able to have a dialogue with the FIA, we are able to evaluation it collectively and assist the FIA,” he stated. “Right here everyone seems to be attempting their finest, and we aren’t upset with anyone; it’s simply unlucky.
“I’m fairly positive the FIA might acknowledge that the yellow flag wasn’t required and possibly there was a marshal that was too keen. It’s a bit unlucky that we had this yellow flag deployed, and this caught Lando in his necessary lap to undergo Q1.
“I don’t suppose we are able to do something about it. We simply have to just accept it, reprogram and go on a mission tomorrow to attain as many factors as attainable with Lando — and clearly capitalize on the nice and robust qualifying of Oscar [Piastri] at this time.”
The unusual confluence of occasions that dumped Norris out within the backside 5 was notably expensive in his pursuit of Max Verstappen’s 62-point championship lead. Piastri certified second behind pole-getter Charles Leclerc, whereas Verstappen endured one other forgettable qualifying session that left him sixth and outqualified by teammate Sergio Perez for the primary time this season.
Stella stated Norris’s focus can be on sneaking into the highest 10 to reduce Verstappen’s likelihood of doing critical harm to the Briton’s title possibilities.
“It appeared like Purple Bull have been going to be fairly sturdy, however in qualifying by some means they didn’t capitalize on the hints of very sturdy efficiency they noticed yesterday,” he stated. “They’re Purple Bull, and once we discuss Purple Bull we are able to by no means assume they are going to be a straightforward goal. They will race at a really excessive stage, and I feel doubtlessly it might simply be exploitation of the brand new tires and so they absolutely could have a really sturdy race tempo.
“With Lando, if we get throughout the radar of a Purple Bull, it means the race has gone very effectively. I’d above all consider attempting to attain some factors — after which right here in Azerbaijan you’ve gotten crimson flags, you’ve gotten security vehicles, and undoubtedly you must enter the race with the mindset that each one is feasible, and we wish to take the alternatives that come to us.”
