McLaren: “We Didn’t Pit Norris to Avoid Risking the Race”

McLaren announced that it chose not to bring Lando Norris in for a pit stop during the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix to avoid risking the race and to focus on getting the car to the finish line.

Lando Norris crowned his pole position with a dominant victory, finishing 20 seconds ahead of championship rival Max Verstappen at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. However, Daniel Ricciardo from RB managed to surpass Norris’s previous best time on fresh soft tires in the last lap, preventing Norris from achieving his first grand slam.

Missing out on the extra point, which would have narrowed the gap to Verstappen, emphasized McLaren’s position relative to RB and their main team, Red Bull. Norris had built a 28-second lead over Verstappen, allowing him the opportunity for a second pit stop, but McLaren decided against it.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained that they avoided a second pit stop due to concerns that Norris could get stuck behind slower cars on a narrow street circuit. When asked if McLaren considered instructing Norris to pit to increase his advantage over Verstappen, Stella stated, “No, in the second part of the second stint, what caught our attention was that as soon as we got behind the slower cars, the car started to struggle.”

“Therefore, we focused entirely on getting the car safely to the finish line without any issues, mistakes, or lock-ups. We also saw in practice that when you get behind a slow car, it seems like the car has a problem. This is just the effect of dirty air.”

“So our focus was completely on bringing the car to the finish line. We suggested to Lando to attempt the fastest lap, and he did, but after that, we didn’t want to talk about the fastest lap anymore.”

Norris Agrees with McLaren’s Decision

Norris seemed to have no concerns regarding McLaren’s choice. He explained that the two near misses he experienced while close to the barriers were caused by the dirty air from the cars ahead.

“I hit the front wing against the barrier, so maybe it got a little damaged, but I don’t think it’s enough to change it; it’s hard to tell. The moment you change something on these cars, it can have quite a big effect, but I didn’t feel anything.”

“So, I was pushing, but at the same time, I was catching the dirty air from the cars in front of me, whether they were three or four seconds ahead.”

“It changes compared to the 20 laps I did in the past. You have a bit less grip, a bit less downforce. The tires start to go off. It just caught me off guard. So it wasn’t a lack of concentration; it was just a bit of a surprise for me.”

Norris Aimed to Give McLaren the Chance to Pit

Norris admitted that he was pushing the pace to give McLaren the option to bring him in for a pit stop later in the race.

“Yeah, I was definitely not driving comfortably. I was pushing to open up the gap. At one point, I wanted to try to open a pit window for myself to give me a chance for the fastest lap at the end of the race, and I wanted to achieve that.”

“Daniel stole that from me at the end of the race. So, yeah, it was a tough race. The car was not easy to drive, especially on the hard tires. I struggled a lot more than on the medium tires.”

“And managing the second half of the stint, especially with traffic and other things, was a bit more challenging compared to the first, but I was pushing. Let me tell you, I was definitely pushing. Probably too much, which is why I came so close to the wall twice, but aside from that, things were going well.”