McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has urged Lando Norris to be “prudent” at the start of Sunday’s title-deciding F1 race in Abu Dhabi.
Championship leader Norris, who has a 12-point lead, had to settle for second on the grid after Max Verstappen set a pair of sensational laps to secure pole position in qualifying on Saturday night.
Oscar Piastri starts a spot behind in third, with Mercedes’ George Russell in fourth. Norris only needs a podium to win the 2025 world championship and will be looking to stay out of trouble on the first lap.
The 26-year-old Briton will need to find a balance between going for the race victory and limiting the risk of a game-changing incident and Stella believes Norris needs to play the start carefully.
“From Lando’s point of view, considering the inside at turn one in Abu Dhabi, I think he should just be relatively prudent,” Stella said, in his written media session on Saturday night.
“It is not one of those where from the inside you necessarily get the better exit, the car on the outside can be close. So I think there will be some prudency, which is what I would recommend.
“Lando is in a very strong position. I think that's the approach, also in terms of the options that Max has available to try.
“Honestly, I'm not too worried. We will see, you know, some interesting racing, but I'm sure all this will happen within the boundaries of sportsmanship and fairness.”
Verstappen, targeting a fifth consecutive title having trailed by 104 points back in August, acknowledged after qualifying that he does not want a “straightforward” race.
‘I’m going all out, I have nothing to lose,” the Dutchman said. “I’m going to try and win the race – if I need to attack, I will attack.
“Let’s see what we can do tomorrow. In the back of my mind, we want to score a lot of points but also we need a bit of luck with what happens behind us. But we can talk about strategy for two hours and then after lap one, it can all be thrown in the bin.”
Verstappen needs to win the race and hope Norris finishes fourth or lower, while Piastri needs to win and hope the Briton finishes sixth or lower in order to overturn a 16-point deficit.
The Dutchman could look to back the pack up from the lead, in order to put pressure on Norris in a position behind.
“We have more options to play at some stage,” said Stella, referencing his two drivers in the top three while Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda is down in P10.
“If you slow down too much, you may be susceptible to being attacked with undercuts. You may expose yourself in terms of being overtaken. Definitely, I think it's good that we are there with two cars.”
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