Former world champions back in the top three for the first time in eight years after overhauling Racing Point in Abu Dhabi GP finale via fifth and sixth-place finishes; McLaren announced sale of stake in team ahead of race
Sunday 13 December 2020 23:16, UK
McLaren overhauled Racing Point in a final-race showdown at the Abu Dhabi GP to clinch a lucrative third place in the Constructors' Championship for the first time since 2012.
On the day the team announced the sale of a 'significant minority' stake to a US-based investment consortium, with a big injection of funds aimed at helping their quest back to the front of the grid in future seasons, McLaren came from 10 points back on Racing Point to move into the position behind Mercedes and Red Bull in 2020.
The difference in prize money between finishing third and fourth is believed to be in the region of £4m.
Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz finished Sunday's race in fifth and sixth, with Racing Point only 10th with Lance Stroll after suffering a technical retirement for Sergio Perez. The result was formally confirmed after the race when Sainz was cleared for his driving in the pit lane, after stewards had looked at whether he had driven too slowly in front of Stroll.
"That was a good day today - it has been a great year, actually," said a jubilant chief executive Zak Brown to Sky Sports F1.
"It's been a really difficult season in the public spotlight unfortunately, some of our challenges, and to bring the investment in this weekend, the job Lando and Carlos have done all year, the job all the men and women at McLaren have done, this third place is a true team effort.
"It was awesome. It was a bit stressful on pit wall. It might have looked like a boring race for Lando and Carlos, but it was exciting on pit wall."
McLaren's third place was formally confirmed after Sainz faced no further action from the stewards when they looked into whether he had driven too slowly through the pit lane as the front runners pitted under the Virtual Safety Car.
The stewards said: "Car 55 [Sainz] was advised by its Team, that it was 2.4 seconds in front of Car 18 [Stroll] approaching the Pit Entry. There was no instruction by the Team to slow down. On approaching the Start of the Pit Lane Car 55 accelerated then as per normal practice, braked briefly to less than 80 km/h just prior to the line and then accelerated up to 80.
"This was exactly the same as Car 5 [Vettel]. (Car 18 also braked to below 80 prior to the line then accelerated up to 80 as it crossed the line).
"Within the Pit Lane, Car 55 was at 80 km/h for all but approximately 5 seconds when it dropped to no less than 70 km/h. We estimate this resulted in Car 55 arriving at the pit stop around 0.6 second later than if it had maintained a speed of 80 km/h.
"Therefore, we are not of the view that this action in any way resulted in the Team avoiding a "double stack" situation as Car 5 was well clear of the Pit Stop at this time.
"We also accept the explanation of the driver of Car 55 that he was exercising a degree of caution as video evidence confirms the presence of a lot of other teams' personnel in the Pit Lane at the time."
