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Qatar Grand Prix result “even better” than Japan

Lando and Oscar believe their charge through the field on Sunday shows what the car is capable of

Reading Time: 5.8 minutes

Lando and Oscar proved that the Japanese Grand Prix was no fluke, shining under the lights in Qatar to score our second double podium in a row.

On the back of our first double podium since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, confidence was high heading in Qatar, and both drivers were delivering on that promise during Friday’s qualifying session, before seeing their final laps deleted due to track limit infringements, demoting Lando from second to 10th and Oscar from fourth to sixth.

Those frustrations were channelled positively and used to fuel a quite remarkable weekend, as we took four trophies and 47 points in a single grand prix weekend.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after the Qatar GP

“Starting from P10 and getting to P3 is probably a bit better than I expected today, with how things were with the tyres,” Lando told F1TV. “The pace was good enough to win. It shows that we had the pace to be on top, if I didn’t make the mistakes I made earlier on in the weekend.

“I guess that is why I was disappointed with myself [on Friday] because I knew what we were capable of. If I didn’t start 10th, I would definitely have finished higher than third.

“It has been a great weekend, the pace has probably been one of my best weekends in terms of overall pace. The team have done an amazing job all year, and all weekend, hopefully, we can continue that and keep fighting hard.”

They lined up first and second in the F1 Sprint with Oscar winning his first race from pole and Lando finishing third behind newly crowned F1 Drivers’ World Champion Max Verstappen.

Lando Norris at the Qatar Grand Prix

Starting from sixth and 10th for the grand prix, a podium looked set to be a much more challenging ask, but both made up several positions when the lights went out, with Oscar vaulting from sixth to second and Lando from 10th to sixth.

“It was a great race and a good start,” Lando continued. “On Saturday, I went wide at Turn 1, which turned out to be the incorrect thing to do. On Sunday, I went tight, and it worked out perfectly. A great start led to a good race, and the pace was excellent – it was, probably, good enough to keep up with Max, we just lost a lot in traffic.

“The pace was great behind Oscar, I just couldn’t get close enough in the dirty air. This was the toughest race I’ve done physically, but it was good fun - it always is when you are fighting for these positions. I kept pushing till the end, it was a rewarding race.”

“If anything, this result is even better than Suzuka because it comes from a difficult starting position”

Andrea Stella
Andrea Stella

McLaren Formula 1 Team Principal

Speaking to F1TV, Oscar added: “I am very, very satisfied. I think that is the most we could have done. It was a tough race out there, so second and third for the team is an amazing result. It has been an amazing weekend in general, and we are very happy.

“We knew that Suzuka and Qatar would probably be kind to us, and that has been the case. On Friday, I think that both Lando and I were quite frustrated with ourselves in qualifying. Saturday was a very good day for me, and Sunday has been good, too – we’ve been able to show the car's pace. It is encouraging to finish within five seconds of Max, it is pretty unbelievable considering the start of the season.”

Oscar’s second successive podium promotes him to ninth in the standings, with the Australian rookie having scored in six out of eight races since his MCL60 was upgraded ahead of the British Grand Prix, when he was in 14th with only five points.

Oscar Piastri and Andrea Stella

Lando remains seventh but is now just nine points off sixth-placed Charles Leclerc, having scored his third successive podium and his ninth top 10 finish in a row. The British driver’s tally of five podiums is his highest total in a single F1 season. It puts the team within 11 points of Aston Martin in the fight for fourth in the Constructors' Championship and 129 ahead of Alpine.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Team Principal Andrea Stella said: “If anything, this result is even better than Suzuka because it comes from a difficult starting position, compared to what our potential was in qualifying. It is a very, very good feeling.

“The even better feeling is thinking about the team at the factory that made all this possible, who have given McLaren such a quick car that you can start P6 and P10 and finish with two cars on the podium - well done to the team.”

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