McLaren Racing F1 Saudi Arabian GP race - "Tough race, we were very unlucky today" 19.03.2023: SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX Jeddah Corniche 17-19 March 2023 Sunday, March 19th 2023 As it happened - Oscar makes contact with GAS on the opening lap. He pits for a new nosebox and switches to the Hard tyre. - Lando's car was damaged from h

SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
Jeddah Corniche
17-19 March 2023
Sunday, March 19th 2023

As it happened


- Oscar makes contact with GAS on the opening lap. He pits for a new nosebox and switches to the Hard tyre.

- Lando's car was damaged from hitting debris on track on the opening lap. He also pits for a new nosebox and switches to the Hard tyre.

- With the Safety Car out, Lando boxes and swaps to a new Medium tyre.

- Lando, on the grippier tyre, swaps positions with Oscar into P17.

- With two laps to go Oscar and Lando switch places again.

- Oscar overtakes SAR on the final lap for P15.





OSCAR PIASTRI
Started     8th
Finished     15th

Fastest lap     1m34.287s on lap 48 (+2.381, 16th)
Pit-stops     1, lap 1 [Medium/Hard] (13.3s)



"Obviously it’s not the day we were looking for, there was contact at the beginning where I lost part of my front wing. I’m not sure if there was anything I could have done really, I was squeezed a little bit.


 There was some good racing at the end, which was nice and obviously I did a long stint on the Hards, so it’s good to get a bit of learning for the tyres but overall, it’s not what we were looking for tonight."





LANDO NORRIS
Started     19th
Finished     17th

Fastest lap      1m34.122s on lap 49 (+2.216s, 15th)
Pit-stops     2, lap 2 [Soft/Hard] (9.1s) and lap 19 [Hard/Medium] (2.9s)

"Tough race, we were very unlucky today. I had a really good start but then got hit with debris which damaged my front wing. We did our best to try to come out with something, but no luck was on our side.


 We did the best job we could, working as a team, but it was difficult to achieve anything more than what we did. So, it’s tough, but now our focus is on Australia where we hope to do a better job."





ANDREA STELLA




"After beginning the race with hopes of scoring points, we had both cars at the back of the pack after the first lap and we come away from Jeddah empty-handed. Oscar had contact at the first corner, which required him to pit with a broken front wing, while Lando hit the debris coming off Oscar’s car and also suffered a broken front wing that required him to pit to change the front wing.

"We’re racers and we take these unfortunate circumstances on the chin. We will be even more motivated and determined to work on improving the car and to prepare for the next race in Australia. Before we go to Melbourne, we know we have work to do to improve our car, and that will be our immediate focus."


-McLaren also photos