‘Technically a very interesting race’ – Stella reveals how Norris and McLaren triumphed at Interlagos

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix was a race of tyres and the challenge getting them into the right window, whether they be the intermediates used at the start and finish, or the soft slicks deployed in the middle part of the race.

Lando Norris and McLaren did a better job than anyone else across a very difficult afternoon of changing conditions, and they reaped the reward with a superb victory.

Team Principal Andrea Stella conceded that the cooler conditions in Interlagos on Sunday tipped the balance in favour of the MCL40.

"My explanation of our performance in dry today is associated with the track and ambient temperature,” said the Italian post-race.

“The conditions were very cold, much colder than we had in practice. In practice, I think we saw that we were still tending to overheat the tyres. Today, somehow the conditions came our way, and we could keep the tyre temperature under control. I think that's the main reason.

“We know that we have some work to do in terms of getting more consistent in long runs in hot conditions, and I think we were in a way helped.

“You could see also this well, especially with Lando, when the track was getting greasy before switching onto intermediate tyres. Lando was just able to keep the lap times much better than anybody else, and I think our car is good from this point of view."

It wasn’t entirely straightforward, however. Stella noted that some cars were more competitive at various stages of the afternoon.

“I think what we have seen is that cars exhibited different features,” he said. “Like at the start of the race, you needed to be good at bringing the tyres into temperature.

“In the laps to the grid, nobody could actually generate any temperature. So definitely, in the early laps, there was a premium to the cars, or the drivers, that were able to generate tyre temperature.

“Obviously Max [Verstappen], likewise Lewis [Hamilton], I think they have shown their talent not only from a tyre switching on point of view, but also in the first lap. I watched some images; they were just incredible how easily they gained positions.

“But going back to the evolution of the race, I think something we have seen [Saturday], even in Qualifying, we seemed to be good when there was a lot of water, and then we kind of lost it a little bit in Q2 when there was less water.

“Likewise today, it was difficult to see a car that was good in all conditions. We struggled a bit more with Lando at the start, and then somehow we managed to keep good grip in the intermediate tyres, and also on the soft tyres.

“I think in the final part of the stint on the soft tyres, Lando was very fast, and probably there he is the one that had done the best job. Because if you look at [Kimi] Antonelli as well, he was good at the final part of the stint on soft, and he struggled at the start, and he lost position.

“So, it was technically a very interesting race, because really everyone had to deal at some stage with the tyres being either too cold or getting too hot, but without a clear pattern. All teams will have some data to look into, and understand.”

One of the intriguing aspects of the race came in the slick tyre stint, as drivers discussed the possibility of running to the end on their original set, with Norris and McLaren among those to have such a conversation.

However as those who changed to fresh rubber showed good pace, rivals were obliged to follow suit.

“Antonelli decided to go for another stop, and this made our life a little easier from this point of view,” said Stella. “I don't think at any stage we thought that we could have gone all the way to the end.

“Russell, I think, is the only one that took advantage for staying on the same set and going on to intermediate tyres. This was a consideration, but we were unsure as to how the rain would have actually manifested itself. So we decided with both drivers to go for the more rational approach, which was just go on another set.”

It wasn’t all about tyres, however, and Stella paid tribute to Norris, who has a great feel for low grip conditions.

“You're never going to have a really perfect car, you're never going to have the perfect conditions,” said Stella. “So adaptability is actually probably the most important feature that you may want to possess as a driver.

"I think that should be definitely acknowledged and recognised for Lando, when there's a need to understand what's best, how to operate, he is definitely a master.

“Hopefully we don't need to rely on these qualities though, we just want to make sure that we can offer Lando and Oscar [Piastri] a competitive car such that they can just drive a little bit more easily, because still our car remains pretty difficult.”

Norris won twice in the summer at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort, and he looked set to triumph in Madrid before getting caught out by the Virtual Safety Car. Since then, McLaren have been outperformed by their rivals, and thus a victory late in the season was most welcome.

It bodes well for the Interlagos upgrade package, the first part of a step towards the 2027 car that the team has fast tracked for this season.

“As for the McLaren trajectory, after the upgrades in Hungary, it was encouraging that we were in position to win,” said Stella. “We should have won Madrid, really. But after that, other people took upgrades, and we lost this position. I think we also paid the price on not having had great Qualifying sessions.

“It would have been interesting to see Lando starting from the front in races like Austin or Mexico. I think it would have been definitely a fight for podium, but it's thanks to these upgrades that we are now in condition to fight for the victory, combined with the conditions surely.”

There’s more to come for the next race: “And these upgrades, first of all, they will be complemented by some more parts that come in Vegas, and they form the foundation for what will be next year's car.

“So it's encouraging for the trajectory of McLaren that we seem to be able to transform our development into performance on track, and it's also important for McLaren that we had solid pit stops because we don't come from a period of consistent pit stops, and also execution in these mixed conditions.

“Because we have had some disappointing races, like in Canada, where we were starting with the intermediate tyres, and the double extra formation lap was unlucky, honestly.

"So it's good that we were able to master these conditions at the pit wall as well. And I'm very proud to have seen the team operate at this very high level.”