2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Saturday Sprint "We learned a lot about the tyres, which puts us in a better position for tomorrow"

Baku City Circuit, Saturday, 29 April

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix F1 Sprint.

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SQ1

 1m44.179s (Mediums)  

13th 

 

SQ2

1m43.427s (Mediums)

11th

 

Started 

11th 

 

 

Finished 

10th 

 

 

Fastest Lap   

1m44.776s lap 8 (+1.160, 9th)

 

 

“I’m pleased with P10 in the Sprint. Given the way I've been feeling this weekend I'm glad I was able to get the Sprint done. With that said, there was a lot to learn today, and it was good to get the laps in, which will really help us in the Grand Prix tomorrow. We’ll have a look at what data we gathered, get a good night’s rest and prepare for tomorrow.”

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SQ1

1m43.938s (Mediums)

9th

 

SQ2

1m43.395s (Mediums)

10th

 

SQ3 

No time

 

 

Started 

10th 

 

 

Finished 

17th 

 

 

Fastest Lap   

1m44.484s on lap 15 (+0.868, 6th)

 

 

Pit-stops   

1, lap 10 [Softs/Mediums] (3.5s)

   

“Not a great Sprint for us today. We took a bit of a gamble and thought the Softs would last a bit longer than they did, but unfortunately, they didn’t. I obviously had to box and in such a short race you can’t make up for it. So, it wasn’t the right decision today, but we learned a lot about the tyres, which puts us in a better position for tomorrow and that is the priority. Full focus now on the Grand Prix.”

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“Coming into today’s Sprint, with eight quicker cars ahead or around us, we knew it would be difficult to score points, so we decided to take an aggressive approach with Lando, putting him on the Soft tyre, while being prudent with Oscar on Medium tyres. The Softs degraded rapidly and we had to make a pit-stop. Oscar drove very well to P10, considering that he’s still not feeling well.

“No points today but it was a good and useful long-run practice in preparation for the race, which remains our priority. Points go up to P10 tomorrow. We have a better understanding of the tyre behaviour and will work overnight to continue our preparation for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.”

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