McLaren team boss Andrea Stella says Lando Norris’ constant evolution has helped him become world champion in 2025 after learning last year he could compete with Max Verstappen.
In 2024, Norris attempted to chase Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship as McLaren became more competitive, but the Brit fell short with three rounds remaining. This year, with Red Bull still struggling for consistency in the first two-thirds of the season, Norris had to beat teammate Oscar Piastri as well as Verstappen. Stella says the new world champion’s improvement over the season should not be underestimated.
“The level of Formula 1 drivers today is so high that you cannot succeed. And to be clear: when we talk about succeeding, it is so close in the rankings. Even between Lando and Oscar, they are two valuable champions. In the end, it was a matter of a few points if you scored more than 400 points,” said Stella. But to compete at this level, the only way to stay in this quest is to continually evolve.
“And when I look at Lando, a lot of the quest was definitely taken away from last year, even though it didn’t go to the last race. I think Lando almost elevated his status, like ‘I can compete with Max.’
“There were some learning points, just like in Austria it was a difficult season, but this season there was another important turning point in my opinion, and that is the way Lando, and we will talk about him specifically, responded to the difficulties we had at the beginning of the season.
“There was the beginning of a process that was structured, it was holistic, it included personal development, professionalism, driving and racing, and I think it makes me particularly happy that Lando was able to take advantage of that, because this has been something that I haven’t necessarily seen many times before, in terms of the amount of work, the people involved and the speed of development.”
Stella added that Piastri has also improved rapidly during their three years with the team and that their ability to deal with disappointment has been particularly impressive.
“This again applies to both our drivers, [they became more capable] from absorbing some difficult moments, like when we had to tell the drivers that we were disqualified, which was difficult, because they had done the work, but we didn’t, and they lost a lot of points,” he said. “And in a similar way absorbing the fact that in Qatar we had a moment where we could have done better, but we never pointed the finger at the team.
“So there are so many aspects in which both drivers have grown, and especially this constant support for the team is not only the one I am most proud of for our two boys, but I think it is also the most important for the overall success.”
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