Norris 17th, Stella doesn’t agree: “It’s the yellow flag’s fault, discussion with the FIA”

McLaren, bittersweet qualifying

Look how fast it goes Oscar Platesthere would be something to smile about in the box McLaren. Although he admitted to having been the protagonist of a last lap in Q3 “a bit messy”, the young Australian talent has in fact secured a place in the front row. A result that is not surprising if we look at the performances of the last few weeks, but which instead confirms the speed of the MCL38 even on a track where difficulties had emerged since the first free practice sessions. The problem is however that Lando Norris was eliminated in Q1 and will be forced to start 17th. A terrible sign in the fight for the title against Max Verstappen, who also failed to go beyond the sixth place on the grid. Which, if we want, is a bit of a manifesto of the bittersweet moment for the team principal Andrea Star.

Unlucky Saturday for Norris

While on the one hand there is a car that in the last few GPs has seemed to be the point of reference for the entire category (Red Bull included), on the other hand there are unfortunate episodes, errors and negative circumstances that rarely allow the Woking team to take home the points they hoped for.The bad thing – Stella explained when interviewed by Sky – is that one of our two cars will start from the back of the grid. We will try to do our best to collect some points and minimize the impact of this situation, but obviously It was a very unlucky qualifying Saturday for Lando”.

Andrea Stella doesn’t agree

On the last good lap, Norris made a bad exit from Turn 16 jumping uncomfortably on the kerb at the exit. The head of the McLaren pit wall, however, places most of the blame for the exclusion of his driver on the yellow flag displayed for the presence of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine: “We are discussing with the FIA ​​why the flag was displayed at that time. It cost us a lot in the economy of this weekend. We want to understand why it was displayed there. We believe that a yellow flag was not necessary, as there was only one car proceeding slowly off the trajectory.. Everyone is trying to do their best, but it was a situation that should not have happened according to the regulations. And we paid the consequences.”.