According to the team boss, McLaren’s shoulders were also burdened by Lando Norris’ prolonged winlessness. It was time to get rid of him.
“When are you going to win?” a fan shouted to Lando Norris. His response was a conventional hand signal, not of the friendly kind. The scene that took place in one of the previous race weekends this year showed that, whatever the McLaren driver may say, it is indeed a burden for him, that after 100 races, with 5 successful seasons behind him, he still does not have the victory expected of him, which his teammates put in the same hat as him years ago. they got down.
It was decided with the Miami Grand Prix: Norris will never have to face the pressing question again.
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has often tried to ease the pressure on Norris over the past year by stating that the victory was not due to his “mistake”, it was not due to his driver. In connection with the current success, he admitted that because of this, they themselves felt the lack of wins as a burden.
“Now you’ve got rid of a bit of a burden. But it was also a burden on our shoulders, because we knew that as soon as we provided him with a winning car, Lando would deliver. So we felt it was our responsibility, which I have said many times. We feel it’s up to us, not Landon”
– said Stella, who took over the management of the team last year.
By the way, the expert had previously predicted that they would win the competition in 2024. He wasn’t wrong.
Norris had no doubts about his preparation. “Kudos to Lando because he has been constantly improving. During the winter, he improved a lot, for example in qualifying, in completing his laps, in the fact that you don’t always have to give 100 percent if your car is fast. You just have to be there. I think he does” said the Italian, who after the mistake of the Chinese timekeeper defended Norris by saying that he had to push the limits in order to get a good result, because their car is not yet good enough to reach the finish line with it without effort.
Andrea Stella is Lando Norris (Photo: XPB)
Now it proved to be the case in the competition. According to Stella, this is another area in which Norris has improved a lot. “He is very mature in terms of handling competitions. As soon as he saw that he couldn’t do much after the first lap, he started to protect the tires, he just protected them because he knew that his race was going to start at some point. Then, as soon as the cars stopped in front of him, he was capable of an incredible pace. He is fast in qualifying and very mature in the race, able to bring out the best in himself” Stella said about Norris with satisfaction.
It was also the team boss’s first victory as the leader of McLaren. It is no coincidence that he was sent to the award ceremony for the designer’s cup. He only spoke modestly about this.
“The first win as a team manager is just like a team win. My role is to serve and represent the team. When you look at one person now, you actually see eight hundred and fifty. This is how I think and feel, because I know how much work it is to put everything together and thus turn our situation around fourteen months ago.”
“Also, quality is important as every team strives for 100 percent and it comes down to effort, quantity and quality. On the quality of engineers, technicians, operators and mechanics. You have to put a lot of effort into it. As a team leader, this is what I see right now. You won’t get very far without the right people” Stella explained.