Sam Bird didn’t think that McLaren would be in a position to win a race at this stage of the season after the Brit secured his first win since the 2021 New York EPrix.
The 37-year-old secured victory in Sao Paulo after a daring move around the outside of Mitch Evans at the penultimate corner on the last lap.
The Brit was aided by the fact he opted to take his Attack Modes early, whilst others had opted to keep hold of their Attack Modes before the first safety car was called.
Bird didn’t think McLaren would be in a position to win a race so early in the championship, but was hopeful that he could score some podiums this season.
“I’d be lying if I said we would have won a race by now, ” said Bird. ” Yes we are aiming to try and get on the podium, but we thought winning was one step too far.
“Therefore credit has to go to Nissan our powertrain partner as well as my team McLaren. We executed the perfect race and I’m delighted with the win.
“For me personally, it has been a challenging few years so to finally be sitting on the winners’ chair again feels special.”
Bird also admitted that he was always going to try for a move on the final lap, but it had to be clean, and he praised Mitch Evans for racing fair at that moment.
“I was also going to go for it, It was a great move, but it was great because Mitch played fair. He could have easily squeezed me. But I trust Mitch, we have worked together for the last three years and I know I could do that move without having any issues.”
Bird has secured McLaren’s first win in the all-electric series in only their second season in the sport. The Englishmen praised the team for how they have been working so hard to improve the car with their partner Nissan.
“It is so special to also get the first win for McLaren in this series. As I said, we were thinking of challenging for podiums at this stage of the season and maybe fighting for wins towards the end.
“But it shows that hard work pays off, and having a good team around you that understands what is happening in a complex race, so I know when to save and when to push is vital, and we did a good job at that today.
“We still have a lot to learn. We need to learn why today was good and what we did well in. DS, Jaguar, and Porsche are going to keep evolving as the season progresses, so we need to keep working hard and try and score some good points in Tokyo.“
