06/09/2020
NEWS STORY
Carlos Sainz: "Well, what a race! Extremely happy to land a P2 here in Monza! Days like today are what make our sport so intense and rewarding. I'm especially proud because I think today we got this podium on pure pace, which is a great achievement! I was fast from start to finish and could maintain a great pace throughout the whole race. Without the red flag, being the first car legally on a stop, I could've won the race after Lewis got a penalty during the first Safety Car.
"It's obviously impossible to be too disappointed with P2, but I wanted that win! I did my best to move quickly through the field after the restart and catch Gasly towards the end. Probably missed out by one lap! Still, super happy! Thank you to the whole race team for a great effort all weekend and to everyone back at the factory. We deserve it! On to Mugello."
Lando Norris: "A really good race for me and us as a team. I had a great start and got ahead of three people into P3. I was really happy and we were controlling the pace well compared to some faster cars, but once everything settled down it's also very difficult to overtake. The whole race was going really well until the red flag. Some people benefitted and got very lucky, so it's a shame.
"We put in a lot of hard work to put ourselves in a good position, but the rule allowing teams to change the tyre before the restart worked against us and meant that we lost out. It's a frustrating rule, and one that I hope can be looked at and reviewed. We could've had a double podium on merit today, but we lost out to that and the pitlane re-opening. But, I don't think we could've done much more so I'm happy with what I did. I'm also so happy for the team, it's an amazing result for us all."
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: "P2 and P4 at the 'temple of speed'. It's a fantastic result coming at the end of a weekend where we've been competitive from the first laps onwards. Congratulations to every single member of the team, out here at the track and back home in the factory, to our colleagues from Renault and especially our drivers for a sensational effort today. Circumstances were difficult and the special situation of the Safety Car with closed pit entry and the red flag didn't play into our hands. Everyone kept their heads down and focused on executing the race perfectly, resulting in the best finish for the McLaren F1 team since 2014.
"We're leaving Monza with a lot of positives and looking at the second half of the season with confidence. We'll enjoy ourselves this evening after a great race, and tomorrow we'll reset and begin preparation for next weekend. We need to deliver another strong performance in Mugello.
"Finally, congratulations to AlphaTauri and Pierre Gasly for a sensational victory today."