After the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Andrea Stella said why Lando Norris missed out on third place and the podium.
Stella started out by saying, “I think for a podium finish today, we would have needed not to lose the time with Hamilton.”
‘This cost us time’
He continued, "Obviously, Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton; he knows very well how to race and for a couple of laps, he managed to pass Lando. This cost us the time that ultimately means that we could not give a go at trying to overtake Leclerc.”
Norris was unable to pass Hamilton for a few laps after Hamilton continued to 'DRS bait' him.
“At the same time, Leclerc and Ferrari, they were very fast, well done to Ferrari on their first podium, very deserved in a way by the race pace that they exhibited, especially at the end of the first stint, that was quite impressive, because we didn't think that the medium tyres could behave like that, but in a way it also gave us the confidence that the final stint of Lando would have been strong.”
Stella added, “It was strong, there was not much degradation, this allowed him to pass Russell, but ultimately I think the time lost with Hamilton and the fact that Leclerc had such a strong pace meant that we couldn't recover to the podium.”
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