McLaren had bad luck in Jeddah

The disaster continues at McLaren. The British team was non-existent on Sunday during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Yet driven by a good performance in qualifying, with 8th place inOscar piastri on the grid, hopes were quickly dashed from the first lap.

The Australian damaged his front wing in contact with Pierre Gasly at the 2nd turn, forcing him to stop on the first lap. An incident which ruined the race for the rookie, ultimately 15th at the finish. “There was contact at the start of the race and I lost part of my front wing, explained Piastri after the race. I don't know if I could have done anything, I was a bit stuck. There was a good race at the end, which was nice, and obviously I had a long stint on the hard tires, so it's good to learn a little bit about the tires, but overall it's not is not what we were looking for. »

McLaren “takes these unfortunate circumstances literally”

But McLaren's woes didn't end there. Lando Norris, who started at the back of the grid following his mistake in Q1 the day before, also had a difficult first lap. There car of the Briton hit the debris... of Oscar Piastri's front wing, thus damaging his own front wing. “It was a difficult race, we were very unlucky today. (…) We did our best to try to release something, but luck was not on our side. So it's difficult, but now we're focusing on Australia where we hope to do a better job. »

The two representatives of the Woking team then dueled in a fight for the places of honor. In this game, it was the rookie Piastri who beat the leader Norris, since the Briton came up against Sergeant and finished the race in 17th (and penultimate) place. A result far from brilliant which reflects the difficulties that McLaren is encountering at the start of the season.

“After starting the race with the hope of scoring points, we had both cars at the back of the field after the first lap and left Jeddah empty-handed, notes Andrea Stella, principal director of the British team. We are competitors and we take these unfortunate circumstances at face value. We will be even more motivated and determined to work on improving the car and prepare for the next race in Australia. » Expected and obligatory rebound in Melbourne in two weeks.

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