It was damage limitation for the Mclaren F1 Team at the American Grand Prix with Daniel Ricciardo finishing fifth and Lando Norris eighth, as the team just about managed to stay in third place in the Constructors’ standings.
It was a tough weekend for Mclaren, with championship rivals Scuderia Ferrari having a much stronger package all weekend. Ricciardo and Norris were both involved in an excellent opening lap battle with Carlos Sainz Jr, with Ricciardo coming out on top.
Ricciardo did brilliantly to defend Sainz all race, whereas Norris slightly fell off the pace. Ahead of Ricciardo however was Charles Leclerc, meaning that after finishing fourth and seventh, Ferrari closed the gap down to just 3.5 points to Mclaren.
Team Principal Andreas Seidl believes fifth and eighth was the best they could’ve achieved at the Circuit of the Americas and that the team will look at how they can extract any more performance heading into Mexico.
“P5 and P8 today here at COTA was pretty much everything that was on the table. We were fighting a very strong Ferrari team this weekend and did well to get ahead of at least one of them and retain P3 in the Constructors’ Championship. A strong race for Daniel today, getting past Carlos [Sainz] on the first lap and then soaking up enormous pressure all the way to the flag.
“With Lando not making up any positions at the beginning of the race, it became a difficult one for him, but he stayed right there in the hunt all the way to the line. Good job from everyone at the track this weekend who’ve put in long hours in hot conditions, well supported, as always, by everyone back at the factory and our colleagues at Mercedes HPP.
“It’s been a very busy week for us in Austin. We’ve had a series of great events with our partners, sponsors and guests, and really enjoyed a fabulous atmosphere at a packed and lively COTA, filled with brilliant, enthusiastic fans. We’ll go home now, regroup and analyse the race to see how we might get even more out of this package when we come back across the Atlantic for the Mexican Grand Prix.”