The 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix Sprint Race was a mixed bag for both Mclaren drivers. Despite clinching the pole position and a fast reaction time, Max Verstappen put enough pressure on the British driver to overtake him before Turn 1.
When asked about his start and losing position to the Dutch driver, he said: “I have to review it,”
“It’s something to look back on. My initial start was good, but my second phase of the launch, maybe I was just a bit conservative.
“I don’t think I had any wheelspin. I was just a little bit on the safe side. So, things to improve for tomorrow.”
At Turn 10, George Russell also took advantage of the circumstances and overtook Norris. Although it appeared that Norris was slipping behind the leaders, he was far from out of the race. He utilised the DRS to his advantage and re-passed Russell to take second place.
He looked back at the rest of his stint; he insisted that the MCL60 has pace but not enough to fight off a dominant RB19, saying:
“I was caught sleeping a little bit with George on lap one, but the pace was strong after,” Norris explained on Russell’s bold pass in turn 10.
“I tried to go after Max but just didn’t have enough. But it was good fun.”
“We’re not fighting necessarily, Max; I think we’re talking about competing against one of the best drivers in one of the best cars that’s ever been in F1.
“We’re not going to suddenly be fighting a Red Bull on a track where we almost didn’t expect to be as good as it has been.
“So many good surprises and a lot of positives for us. Of course, tomorrow we’ll try again, but will have to do a little bit more overtaking.”
Oscar Piastri’s race was equally as enthralling as his teammate. Throughout the race, the young Australian driver was caught in a fierce battle for position. At first, he had a back-and-forth fight with AlphaTauri driver and fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo. With ten laps remaining, Piastri was able to overtake Ricciardo, then at lap 22, he had to concede the position and ended his Sprint at the tenth position.
Analysing his race, he stated: “It was very eventful, of course.
“I had a good start, then tried to make it even better at Turn 4, then outdid myself a bit, lost a bit of the progress I gained! But definitely eventful, and a lot of things learnt for tomorrow from a racing point of view, from a tyres point of view. So definitely a lot to look over tonight, and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
“I’m starting in the same position [as I finished the Sprint].
“But the cars around me are quite different tomorrow. We’ll see what we can learn tonight and hopefully make tomorrow a bit more successful.”
