Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Finishing the final lap behind the Safety Car, Lando comes home in P7 with Oscar in P9, promoted to P6 and P8 after a 5-second time penalty for Sainz.
Lando Norris
A very good race. We had a good pace throughout and avoided trouble with no mistakes. The team did a very good job. I think today’s pace was stronger than our qualifying pace yesterday, so things came together nicely. Just a well-executed race.
“I’m happy with all of that, and it’s the first points for us this season. It’s nice to get on the board, and it’s a good end to the first few races before we have a bit of a break and head into Baku and the next batch of races. I’m happy, so a big thanks to the whole team and everyone back at the factory for all the hard work as usual, and we’ll keep pushing.
Oscar Piastri
P8, I didn’t expect that at the start of the day! I’ll definitely take it. Obviously a crazy, crazy race, but we stayed there when it mattered. I’m so happy to get my first points in Melbourne and want to thank all of the home and papaya fans for their support this week. Double points for the team is a great result, and thank you to everyone who got us there.
Andrea Stella
An eventful race today in Melbourne. We managed to stay out of trouble and score our first points of the season. Even without the three red flags, it was good to see that we were in condition to race well and make good overtaking moves, so there are plenty of positives. At the same time, we know we must stay realistic and have a lot of hard work ahead. Both trackside and back at the factory, we’ll use the energy from this double points result to make us even more determined to deliver a quicker car. Thank you to everyone trackside at the MTC and our colleagues at HPP for their hard work.
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