Lando Norris, often his toughest critic, set a new standard in Mexico City this weekend. As his team, McLaren, pushes to challenge Red Bull’s grip on the championship, Norris declared a need to up his game against his title-contending rival, Max Verstappen. However, McLaren’s Team Principal, Andrea Stella, believes the Briton’s approach is just right.
Stella, speaking after Norris’s resilient P2 finish in the Mexican GP — with Verstappen ending a distant sixth after two penalties from track incidents with Norris — praised the driver’s approach. “Our conversation and our internal reviews have always been very clear,” said Stella. “‘Lando, we like, we approve, we confirm the way you go racing. It’s not for you to go out there and try to find justice yourself.’”
Stella further emphasized that McLaren supports Norris’s strategy to drive fair and clean. “You go racing in a fair, sportive way, like you do, and then there needs to be a third party, that is the stewarding, to say whether some maneuvers are correct or not. Don’t be desperate, you don’t have to prove anything. You go racing fair and square. This is what we want from Lando, and this is what Lando wants from himself.”
Despite Ferrari’s gains in the Constructors’ standings, with Carlos Sainz taking the victory and Charles Leclerc claiming P3, Stella remained optimistic. “There’s a bit of disappointment because, without that couple of incidents, I think Lando could have fought for the victory,” he said. “But the important fact is that we have seen the car is competitive. The upgraded car seems to be now on par with Ferrari, at a track we thought would be more favorable to them.”
With McLaren now trailing Ferrari by just 29 points in the Constructors’ Championship and Norris just 47 points behind Verstappen, the final four rounds promise a thrilling finish.
