The Formula 1 race weekend at the Circuit of the Americas left the McLaren squad with lingering frustration after failing to convert their true pace into a major trophy.
Despite bringing a highly effective upgrade package to Austin, Lando Norris and his teammate had to settle for fifth and seventh place finishes respectively in Sunday's Grand Prix.
Team principal Andrea Stella made no secret of his annoyance regarding Saturday's qualifying errors that completely ruined their podium aspirations.
Reviewing the weekend events, Stella pointed directly to their poor Saturday performance as the sole reason they missed out on spraying champagne.
"A decent Sunday following a disappointing Saturday: that sums up the weekend in Austin," Stella explained during his post-race media debrief.
"Today’s race showed that the MCL40 is still capable of fighting for the podium, but it’s clear that our position on the starting grid made that goal virtually unattainable."
Being stuck in midfield traffic meant the papaya drivers spent the entire afternoon playing catch-up instead of attacking the race leaders in clean air.
Nevertheless, underlying telemetry data from the upgraded challenger proved exceptionally promising regarding pure aerodynamic efficiency and cornering grip.
Meanwhile, stellar defensive driving was put on display by Oscar Piastri, who successfully kept George Russell at bay for nearly thirty laps.
"The team and the drivers worked very well, both in terms of strategic decisions and driving on the track, and the upgrades we brought here made a positive contribution," Stella noted.
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