McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella explained how «very proud» he was as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s Race Engineers worked together to help the Australian pass Lewis Hamilton at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Sunday’s race in Jeddah began with both championship-chasing McLaren drivers in very different positions on the grid; Piastri in second while Norris faced the prospect of a recovery drive following his crash in the final phase of Qualifying on Saturday.
Lining up in 10th, and with hard tyres fitted to his MCL39, Norris gained early positions when Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda collided, but faced a far tougher challenge when attempting to pass Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari on his way to an eventual fourth-placed finish.
With the DRS detection zone moved from the corner entry to the exit ahead of the pit straight in Jeddah, Hamilton twice conceded position to Norris on the way into Turn 27, before using the rear wing assistance to cruise back past into Turn 1. Norris eventually got the better of the seven-time World Champion, but as mentioned by McLaren boss Stella the delay cost the Briton a chance of challenging for a podium in Saudi Arabia.
Hamilton twice opened the door for Norris into the final corner before getting back past with DRS
“I think for a podium finish, we would have needed not to lose the time with Hamilton,” said Stella after the race.
“Obviously, Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton – he knows very well how to race and, for a couple of laps, he managed to pass Lando and I think that this cost us the time that ultimately means we could not have a go of trying to overtake Leclerc.”
As Norris fought through the pack, team mate Piastri faced a pivotal moment in his race to take a third victory of the season, and top the podium on consecutive weekends for the first time in his F1 career.
Exiting the pits behind Hamilton, it was crucial that Piastri made immediate progress to jump Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who would stop on the following lap to fit fresh rubber and serve a five-second penalty that was handed out following a first lap incident between the pair.
Despite being locked in a championship battle, Will Joseph and Tom Stallard – Race Engineers for Norris and Piastri respectively – put the team first, as the pair shared advice on how best to make a move on the Ferrari driver.
2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Piastri powers past Hamilton to take P4
“You give me the opportunity to actually tell you a story, and the story is that Lando’s race engineer proactively told Oscar’s race engineer that we struggled to pass Lewis because we attempted it twice in Turn 27, and he passed us back in Turn 1, so make sure that Oscar knows that and he gives it a go directly in Turn 1,” recounted Stella.
“I was very proud on the pit wall to hear that. I didn’t need to prompt anything. I was just a spectator and it’s an example about the great teamwork and team spirit that we have here at McLaren. So well done to Will Joseph, well done to Tom Stallard, well done to the team on the pit wall.”
Even with this advice, Piastri elected to make his move around the outside of Turn 21, kicking up dust and discarded rubber as he ventured onto a part of the track scarcely used.
READ MORE: Brown and Horner share contrasting views on Verstappen’s penalty in Saudi Arabia
As spectacular as the move was, however, Stella insisted he had remained calm throughout, adding: “For me, it was one race like Baku [last year]. I think in Baku, it was very tense with Leclerc. But somehow, I was so calm, because it is one of those that you know that Oscar is in complete control and he knows very well what he is doing.
“So personally, I didn’t have any kind of particular exciting moment there. He was very confident, he was very in control of the situation and like I said, I think he also knew that Turn 1 was his chance.
“I also personally think that Hamilton is a very fair competitor, and he knows that if it wasn’t that corner, it would have been the next corner where there was an opportunity. So I don’t think he was braking to create the most disruption to Oscar’s lap. I was relatively calm.”
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