McLaren had a race to forget in Baku, with both cars not scoring points despite Oscar Piastri spending most of the race in second.
Lando Norris was unfortunate to retire from the race after Franco Colapinto collected him at Turn 1 on the first Safety Car restart.
His thoughts on the incident have been widely discussed, with race winner George Russell and Max Verstappen agreeing that Norris calling for a race ban for Colapinto would be harsh.
Australian driver Oscar Piastri looked certain to score a podium, but late in the race a lock-up at Turn 1 took him out of points contention, dropping from second to fifteenth after rejoining the track.
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella attributed the team’s misfortunes to their car not providing the drivers with the tools to progress, rather forcing them to defend throughout the race.
“Lando and Oscar were under constant pressure and ultimately led to them being caught up in unfortunate events,” he said.
“We need to provide them with a car that is more predictable and raceable, allowing them to focus on attacking rather than constantly defending.”
He said the team expects better performance in Malaysia, although Norris’ incident cost the team a couple of parts.
