McLaren explain ‘nervous’ F1 title wait after Verstappen shunt

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has described his squad’s strategy process after Oscar Piastri was hit on the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Piastri collided with Max Verstappen at Turn 1 and was sent to the back of the grid after taking the start on the front row.

It put McLaren’s quest to seal the title in danger, with Ferrari having two drivers in play following Charles Leclerc’s strong rise up the order after starting from the back.

Lando Norris’ victory was enough to seal the title for McLaren, however, an on-track mistake could have dropped him behind second-place Sainz and put the title in danger.

As a result, it focused on ensuring Piastri could return to the points to overcome the loss if Norris fell behind Sainz.

“We were aware, and that’s why we were pushing very hard with Oscar, to make sure that we could get P9 because the two points would have been fundamental,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.

“We were definitely nervous because not only the backmarkers were a problem but the safety car would have been a problem.

“Carlos could have done the opposite of what we do. So, if we didn’t pit, he could have gone on new tyres and it would have been a problem. If we had pitted, he would have taken the lead and we should have overtaken him.

“So, we were definitely nervous because of this happening.”

Norris was also heard complaining over the team radio towards the end of the race about the lapped traffic and the time loss he was experiencing behind them.

Stella asserted it was not a major concern for the team but hailed Norris’ effort to build a gap in the second stint to ensure he had a comfortable safety net.

“It is expected that you lose a bit of grip behind the backmarkers but this is not a track where there’s a lot of space to overtake backmarkers,” Stella added.

“At that stage, Lando had built a good gap to Carlos, which was good to see by the way.

“In the first stint, I don’t think there was much to pick in terms of performance between Ferrari and McLaren.

“But on the harder compounds, as has often happened this season, Lando was the quickest car on track and this meant that we had a safety buffer.”