(L to D): Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, and Andrea Stella, Team Principal of McLaren, celebrate with the team.
The Miami Grand Prix, the sixth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, took place on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami, Florida, USA.
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s team principal, praised the team’s work after Lando Norris secured the team’s first victory at the Miami Grand Prix in Formula 1.
Throughout the weekend, McLaren demonstrated impressive speed and, with the help of a well-timed Safety Car, Norris managed to pull away from the rest of the pack after the race restarted.
Norris’s victory was the first of his career and ended McLaren’s wait for a win, which had lasted since Daniel Ricciardo’s triumph at the Italian Grand Prix in 2021.
This victory also marked the first win under Stella’s leadership, who took over from Andreas Seidl in December 2022, who had moved to Sauber.
The victory comes a year after McLaren’s disappointing performance in Miami, where Norris finished 17th after being eliminated in Q1. However, the team made significant improvements in mid-2023 with a series of upgrades, putting them back in contention.
“We had a plan and I could see that the development, especially in the aerodynamic department, was very promising,” Stella said.
“We could see that the department was really evolving, improving aerodynamic efficiency in the wind tunnel and simulations.
“But, first and foremost, we needed to see if the data would correlate when we put them on track. We knew we had a long way to go in terms of adding downforce and efficiency to the car. There was a plan and there were some very encouraging signs, but in the end, it required a lot of belief.”
“But that belief, I believe, was well founded because, as the leader of this group, I could see the immense talent within McLaren. I’ve said this many times.
“I would go around the company, talking to people, and think, wow, these guys really know what they’re doing, they know the business. We just needed to empower them. And I was working with leaders who fully embraced this mindset. There are no territorial disputes at McLaren.
“It’s all about collaboration, adopting a collaborative approach to performance and giving people the space to excel. That’s what was happening 12 months ago. But in terms of whether this would work, it was more about belief than having a concrete plan, if that makes sense.”
© 2024
