Sao Paulo disappointment "doesn't change anything", insists McLaren boss Andrea Stella as Woking outfit targets team title.

Which is probably just as well as Max Verstappen, following his bravura performance at Interlagos, can put the title out of Lando Norris' reach in Las Vegas.

Excessive wheelspin at the start followed by a couple of mistakes and the unfortunate timing of a red flag all left the Briton 62 point adrift of his rival.

However, McLaren remains 37 points ahead of Ferrari in the all-important - as far as prize money is concerned - team standings and 48 clear of Red Bull.

"In terms of the Constructors' Championship, I don't think it changes anything," said Stella in reaction to Sunday's result, which saw Norris come home sixth and teammate Oscar Piastri eighth.

"It was always our priority," he added. "Even when there was a call to be made to support one driver or the other, it was always secondary to maximising the constructors' championship."

Asked if the pressure of the (drivers') title fight had got to Norris - who ungraciously suggested that his rival's win had been down to luck - Stella said: "When it comes to the drivers' championship, I don't think for Lando there was any particular pressure.

"We were enjoying this quest, even though sometimes from the outside it may come across like there is an error here or there maybe," he added. "It is like when we locked the tyres with the car like we had in Brazil I am not looking at the driver, I am looking at why the car keeps locking the front tyres in conditions like this. I don't think pressure was a significant factor at all.

"Mathematically we are still in the (drivers') championship," he continued, "but I think for Lando and for Oscar, we will go to the next races trying to win the races.

"The last two venues should be quite good," he said. "Vegas will be potentially more of a Ferrari track, and then we will see. It is all to play for, and the Constructors' Championship remains and has always been our priority."

All of which begs the question why was Piastri forced to hand over his lead in the Sprint to his teammate, and - if the constructors' title is the priority - will there be a repeat should the Australian find himself leading the Briton again.