McLaren has apologised for the botched pit-stop that ruined Carlos Sainz’s Styrian Grand Prix on Sunday.
After starting third, the Spaniard was running a strong fifth behind the Mercedes’ and Red Bull’s in the first stint only for a delayed pit-stop to drop him down to eighth, behind Daniel Ricciardo and the two Racing Points.
“We went through a bit of a roller-coaster during the race, especially during the pit stop of Carlos’s car where we destroyed his race,” McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl admitted.
“It didn’t look that great at some points during the race, and then sending Carlos out into heavy traffic where he ruined his tyres, there was no chance for him to fight back and obviously, I am sorry.
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“I want to say sorry to him and apologise that we didn’t do our job today in this aspect because it’s our job as a team to make sure both drivers always get the same opportunities, and they can battle it out on track.
“That’s something we [will] analyse within the team. We’re in this together. It’s clear that we have to get better there.”
Sainz would later drop to ninth as he allowed teammate Lando Norris though to commence his late charge that would see the Briton pass the three cars ahead in the final two laps to clinch fifth.
“After it was clear that Carlos, unfortunately, had to destroy his tyres after we sent him into heavy traffic after the delay pit stop, it was clear that Lando had the better momentum with the better tyres,” the German continued.
“It was nice to see that both guys, with all the interest they have also for themselves, understand that, in the end, it’s about achieving the best result for the team.”
As for Sainz himself, he was keen to put the race behind him.
“Time to turn the page and come back stronger, but we missed out on a good P5 today,” he acknowledged. “We win and we lose as a team, so we’ll try to fight back in Hungary next week.”