F1 legend reacts to McLaren’s explanation behind the team’s strategy for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Former F1 champion Damon Hill had a cheeky take at Ted Kravitz after the Sky Sports F1 broadcaster asked McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella a tricky question. In the post-Japanese Grand Prix interview, Kravitz asked Stella if McLaren allowed Max Verstappen to win the Suzuka race reasonably easily.

Verstappen maintained his dominant run at Suzuka after the Red Bull driver claimed his fourth back-to-back pole position at the circuit and then went on to secure the victory from the pole. With this, he clinched his fourth consecutive win at Suzuka Circuit despite the presence of the dominant McLarens.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been immensely strong this season, thanks to a mighty MCL39 underneath them. However, Verstappen managed to keep them at bay and take the race win. Following the completion, questions were raised about how McLaren failed to tame the Red Bull of Verstappen.

Asking the same, Kravitz of Sky Sports F1 asked Stella, the McLaren team principal, why they did not let Piastri, who seemed to be in a better position to attack Verstappen, overtake Norris and go after the Red Bull driver.

Stella explained that even though it looked from the outside that Piastri was in a better position to go after Verstappen, realistically, it wasn’t the case. After answering the question, he shared that one has to be a little careful in judging.

After Stella’s explanation surfaced on the internet, Hill took to his official Instagram account and shared it on his story. He took a dig at Kravitz and wrote:

“”Be a little careful in judging”. Nicely put. If a little hopeful.”

Here’s the screenshot of Damon Hill’s story on Instagram:

Norris of McLaren finished the race in P2, ahead of Piastri. The two McLaren drivers won the first two races this season. The British driver won the season-opener in Melbourne, where he started on pole.

Following the Australian GP, Piastri won the Chinese GP from pole. Thanks to their strong performance, the Papayas hold the P1 position in the Constructors’ Championship firmly, with 111 points, compared to Mercedes’ 75.

What did McLaren’s Andrea Stella say to Ted Kravitz?

In the post-race interview, Ted Kravitz asked Andrea Stella why the team did not allow Oscar Piastri to swap positions with Lando Norris and attack Max Verstappen during the Japanese Grand Prix. He replied:

“I think like I’ve said before it takes about eight tenths of a second to be even in a condition to attack the car ahead, because you are in the slipstream and as soon as you get within one second, you get a lot of dirty air and your performance drops.

“So I think it’s fair that Oscar makes the comment and gives the input to the pitwall but I think today was simply not possible to overtake and it got too close on Lando because Lando was managing his tires trying to give it a go to Max, doing a little bit, you know going and then bouncing back. So I think we need to be a little careful in judging superficially.”

Lando Norris is leading the Drivers’ Championship with 62 points and has a one-point lead over Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri takes P3 with 49 points.

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Sabyasachi Biswas is a passionate motorsport journalist for Sportskeeda, with a Master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. He has over eight years of experience in the field and has over 10000 published articles on the internet.

As a dedicated follower of motorsport, Sabyasachi watches events closely, ensuring his reports are thorough and supported by reputable sources. He is inspired by Max Verstappen’s fearless attitude and dreams of attending the Indian GP if it returns to the calendar. An ardent F1 fan over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel and is now following Verstappen’s dominant journey on the track.

Apart from F1, he is a big-time NASCAR and football (also soccer) fan. Sabyasachi supports Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports and Spanish club, Real Madrid.

He was a sub-junior level footballer and won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak by nature, Sabyasachi likes to try different cuisines and learn about new cultures. When away from his keyboard, he enjoys soccer, geopolitics, and playing with Khushi & Ubbu – his adorable beagles.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam