Lando Norris Lost an estimated 0.2 seconds per lap after being hit at Turn 1 in Florida Nick de Vries That damaged his floor.he finished 17th Oscar Piastri Classified at 19th place.

The team had considered retiring Piastri entirely as the rookie struggled with soaring brake temperatures while seeking to fix a faulty brake-by-wire hydraulic system.

Doom befell straight away at 9-11 in Azerbaijan when a modified floor was introduced and a frustrating Miami performance brought McLaren down to earth.

Team principal Stella said: “The main takeaway is that we had a reality check after a good weekend in Baku from a performance standpoint.

“The information we have here helps us understand that there are still some developments that need to be pursued, such as improving the performance of the car on the brakes, on the accelerator.

“Currently, the car doesn’t work in that situation. On a track like this, it becomes too much of a limitation.”

The Italian added that McLaren’s only chance to make significant progress in the race came from events that triggered the safety car and adjusted strategy. But 57 laps without a retirement, and without a single yellow flag.

Stella continued: “Today we would have needed some racing in the race, a safety car or something, but nothing happened.

“So, due to some situational factors, the limitations of the performance point of view could not be overcome. We went without points.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60

Photography: Jack Grant / motorsport pictures

Norris was particularly frustrated in the post-race media pen, saying McLaren suffered a loss not least because of the alpha taurus – and Kakuda Yuki 11th and de Vries 18th – the only team not doing well.

He said: “The track is not for us, the longer corners are not for us, the temperature is not for us, the track surface is not for us. There are many different aspects to it all.

“Nobody was slow this weekend either. Maybe the AlphaTauris was the only other slow car. Everyone else was fast.

“The Alfa Romeo is extremely fast, the Haas is extremely fast. The Alpine is much faster.

“I wouldn’t say we’re very different from what we were in the past, it’s just that everything else is a big step forward, which in my opinion depends a lot on the character of the car.”

During the first-lap collision with de Vries, Norris said: “I don’t know what happened. I just got hit.

“He’s only been doing it recently, so he needs to try and brake earlier, but it doesn’t change my day.”