McLaren’s Team Boss Differs on Car Performance AssessmentMcLaren’s Team Boss Differs on Car Performance Assessment Despite Lando Norris’s contention that McLaren had the faster car, team boss Andrea Stella believes the race pace between Norris and Max Verstappen was virtually identical. Stella attributed McLaren’s end-of-race advantage to fresher tires and Verstappen’s early lead to Russell’s presence behind Norris. Stella emphasized that the key factor in McLaren’s loss was not the initial loss of position to Verstappen but rather the prolonged stint behind Russell. Had McLaren been behind Verstappen, Stella believes they could have exploited their offset strategy and potentially won. Norris’s Self-Criticism and Stella’s Perspective Stella dismissed Norris’s pessimistic assessment, attributing it to his “self-critical style.” He defended Norris’s start, highlighting that Russell’s double slipstream put Norris at a disadvantage. Stella emphasized that McLaren was not overreacting to Norris’s harsh self-criticism and expressed confidence that Norris would improve over time. He also praised Norris’s racing skills and suggested that his frustration with finishing second was a positive sign for F1, as it indicated that races could be competitive with different winners. Upbeat Outlook for Austria and Silverstone Norris expressed optimism for the upcoming races in Austria and England, where McLaren has historically performed well. He expressed his desire to improve and believed that McLaren could be “on top” with further adjustments. Stella echoed Norris’s confidence, highlighting Austria’s significance in McLaren’s turnaround last year. He acknowledged Norris’s and McLaren’s strong track record at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone, suggesting that these races could provide opportunities for redemption.
Norris and Verstappen argued all weekend about who had the fastest car. After qualifying, Verstappen said that Norris did that, Norris said it was Verstappen. After the race both had the feeling that it was the McLaren.
But Norris’ team boss Andrea Stella wasn’t so sure.
“I think the race pace was very similar,” said Stella. “The fact that we were faster at the end is because we had newer tyres. He was faster at the start because we were behind Russell. It seemed that the equality of performance in qualifying carried over into the race.”
For Stella, the key to losing instead of winning wasn’t losing position to Verstappen at the start, but finishing with Russell in the middle. If Verstappen had taken the lead with Norris in second behind him, Stella said, McLaren would still have followed their offset strategy.
“We were behind Russell a little too long at the start, otherwise the race would have come to us at the end of the 66 laps,” said Stella.
“A few lost positions in the first corner and the lost time behind Russell are the decisive factor.
“If we had been behind Verstappen at the start, we could have played our cards with good chances.”
And Stella said he wouldn’t be distracted by Norris’s pessimistic assessment of what could have happened.
“The fact that he is self-critical is a style,” Stella said. “And sometimes we respond to the style and not the content.
“Lando’s start wasn’t bad at all. It was a decent start. He was almost one car ahead of Max, but the fact is that Russell got the double slipstream from Lando and Max and in turn one Lando was just very wise. One second and your The race is over and we want to stay in the race.
‘It’s more in the details. Very marginal.
“We’re not overreacting to Lando’s hard-on-himself style. I’m sure he will continue to refine this over the years.
“Lando has just driven really well all weekend and if he is angry because he is two seconds behind Max in P2, then this is really good news for everyone, including F1. Because it means we have races with little detail, such as defending your pole position, we can finally have some winners other than Max.”
Norris doesn’t have to wait long to make amends. This weekend the teams roll into Austria for the second of three races on consecutive weekends. And then the British Grand Prix follows.
Austria was the race last year where McLaren jumped from the lower midfield to the front with a major upgrade to their car. It was the first evidence of the remarkable turnaround the team has achieved under Stella’s thoughtful, emotionally intelligent leadership.
The Red Bull Ring is a circuit where Norris has always excelled; McLaren too. And the same goes for Silverstone.
“Austria and Silverstone,” said Norris. “Two of my favorite songs. We’re on a roll. I just have a few more things to clean up and then we’ll be on top.”
