Stella: During the race we will be able to gain an advantage.

      The American weekend is unfolding for McLaren completely differently from what the British team, which has already secured the Constructors' Championship, had expected.

      The task of winning the drivers' title is made harder not only by Max Verstappen's excellent results but also by the double retirement in the sprint, which allowed the Red Bull driver to cut the gap to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri by another eight points.

      Moreover, Oscar only set the sixth-fastest time in the main qualifying of the weekend, and his team-mate, although he will start from the front row, was almost three tenths behind Max, who took pole. Andrea Stella, head of the McLaren team, commented on those results on Sky Sports and also spoke about the objectives for the upcoming United States Grand Prix.

      Andrea Stella: "I think from session to session we gradually managed to get back into the right rhythm, especially Lando, although the results in the first part of qualifying were definitely very close.

      Let's not forget that our drivers did almost no running on track because they retired from the sprint, and the team had to work hard to repair their cars. So I'd like to thank all the McLaren mechanics who did a great job, because they had to work in the heat.

      Therefore, in qualifying the drivers needed to get into rhythm straight away, but everything went fine, although Oscar needed more time to do that. There was a strong, gusty wind, and there are several parts of the track where that affected his driving. With such tight margins you can lose a couple of tenths in a few corners and that will lead to losing several positions.

      But now we have to prove that we can put in a strong performance in the race. The team is actively preparing for the upcoming Grand Prix, especially as everyone was very upset about the double retirement in the sprint.

      Even before the sprint I said that over a race distance we could gain an advantage thanks to the strengths of our car, which show up in hot conditions when tyre degradation begins. Overall, our goal is to perform as well as possible on Sunday, for which we need to remain as focused as possible."