P1racenews AI automatic summary:
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes trackside marshals made a mistake in showing Lando Norris yellow flags on his final flying lap in Q1 that resulted in him being knocked out of qualifyi…
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes trackside marshals made a mistake by showing Lando Norris yellow flags on his final flying lap in Q1, resulting in him being knocked out of qualifying and starting in 17th place. Norris was in the drop zone in a competitive opening qualifying segment but looked set to progress comfortably to Q3 until a mistake at Turn 16 cost him time. Onboard footage showed Norris passing a slow-moving Esteban Ocon with a puncture, where a yellow flag was unexpectedly displayed, prompting Norris to abort his lap. Stella expressed his belief that the FIA may acknowledge the error in displaying the yellow flag to Norris and agreed that it wasn’t necessary in the situation. Despite the setback, Stella emphasized the importance of regrouping and focusing on scoring as many points as possible in the race, especially with teammate Oscar’s strong qualifying performance. The incident was costly in Norris’s championship quest, as he aims to minimize Max Verstappen’s lead by pushing to break into the top 10 in the race. Stella noted that Red Bull’s unexpected struggle in qualifying does not make them an easy target, and they remain formidable competition with the potential for strong race pace.
