McLaren respond to Lando Norris' x-rated team radio message with error admission

After settling for a third-place finish in the British GP Sprint due to a team orders error, McLaren has now apologised to Lando Norris, admitting that they need to 'do better' amid his expletive rant.

Norris was back to his best in the British GP Sprint, pulling off an opening-lap manoeuvre that was every bit reminiscent of last year's Championship-winning form.

Starting in sixth, the Brit capitalised on a bad launch for second-row duo Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, soaring into third place before overtaking Kimi Antonelli on the first lap.

But the race fell off more for Norris as he was caught by Antonelli and soon told to slow down by McLaren as the car was underfuelled.

The reigning world champ blasted his team on the radio as he fended off George Russell to keep hold of the final podium spot, imploring McLaren to "f*** me guys, let's get it right for once".

After the race, Norris was all smiles again, admitting that he was very happy with the pace that he could achieve, should the strategy have been correct.

Now, McLaren has offered up its apologies and said that 'we need to do better'.

McLaren's response to Lando Norris' underfuelled Sprint woes

Speaking to Sky Sports, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said that it was on his orders that Norris was forced to compromise pace, and that it's 'not good enough' that this is the second race in a row that they have had to manage their fuel.

"We needed to compromise the pace a bit because we were managing fuel and Lando gave us a good reminder," Stella told the Sky team on the post-race broadcast.

"We need to do better because it's the second time in a row that we asked the driver to manage fuel. This is not good enough. We need to do better as a team. But Lando compensated for that in a brilliant way."

The underfuelling issue wasn't deliberate either - we've often seen teams play cat and mouse with the limits needed to be able to go flat out and maintain the lowest weight possible, but this time, McLaren simply didn't do the math right.

"It's more about the prediction of the fuel consumption. So you needed to adapt to what actually the consumption [is], dependent on the various conditions or the racing.

"This is a very interesting Formula 1 with these power units. You have a yo-yo effect, which obviously moves data from what you think is the baseline. So interesting in all respects, but definitely a situation that you would like to avoid because it takes a few tenths off the gap."

The new power management systems have been under scrutiny again this weekend as Aston Martin's Lance Stroll claimed that the lack of regenerative braking zones around Silverstone meant that this iconic track had its 'special feeling' dimmed by drivers deliberately going slower to save power when overtakes occur.

McLaren and Lando Norris will have learned a lot from flirting with the fuel borderline ahead of the full British Grand Prix, where he they will be hoping for a higher grid place to allow the driver to exert his magic on the front row again.