McLaren warned of ‘wrong guy on pole’ dilemma

Damon Hill has underlined a difficult situation facing McLaren, after the Woking team locked-out the front row of the grid for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint.

Oscar Piastri secured pole, beating Lando Norris by just three-hundredths of a second. However, the 1996 F1 drivers’ champion feels the pair lining up together could spell trouble.

The papaya squad was undoubtedly the class of the field on the first day of track running at Interlagos, but with Norris still fighting Max Verstappen for the drivers’ title, Hill was quick to point out that the “wrong guy” is starting first, something that could prove “very tricky” in his eyes.

Piastri confirmed he would move aside for his team-mate if asked, which may prove to be a saving grace for McLaren.

If team orders are invoked, it may just need the two drivers to get through the opening corners unscathed – and in the lead.

“They have absolutely nailed it, and McLaren has now got a problem because they’ve two cars in a very tricky situation, with kind of the wrong guy on pole,” Hill said on Sky Sports F1. “We’ll have to see what happens in the sprint.

“I think it’s going to be very, very tricky for McLaren to navigate Turn 1. I think Lando’s in a bit of a tricky situation.

“It’s a short run to the first corner, you’ve a left and a right very, very quickly. It’s very easy to get someone on your inside.”

Cautious optimism

Piastri also highlighted that as far as the constructors’ championship goes, the team does not care who finishes ahead of who.

With four rounds remaining, McLaren holds a 29-point advantage over Ferrari, as it looks to secure a first title since 1998.

Team principal Andrea Stella was pleased with the display from both his drivers. However, the 53-year-old preached caution over the sprint qualifying result, citing factors that played into McLaren’s advantage.

“A strong performance for both Lando and Oscar in the sprint qualifying session,” he said. “The car seems to be performing well and Lando and Oscar put together clean laps.

“At the same time, we need to remain calm, because the conditions in sprint qualifying were very different from those in practice.

“The track was cold and the sky was overcast – we know that our car enjoys these conditions. For the remainder of the weekend, there’s some weather around, so we just have to remain focused, maximise the potential of the car and adapt to the challenges that we will face.

“As a starting point, this is encouraging, and we hope that we can earn some good points tomorrow.”