Giving all the credit for the triumph in Miami to Lando Norris, Andrea Stella insisted that the victory is also a balm for McLaren.
Lando Norris needed a long time to secure his first victory in Formula 1, revealing the McLaren team boss that a weight was also lifted off his shoulders with last Sunday’s victory.
Stressing that not winning in F1 was “a weight on his shoulders”, Stella also admitted that “it was a weight on our shoulders, because we knew that, as soon as we had provided winning material to Lando, he would achieve it. Therefore, we feel the responsibility, and I have said it many times, we feel that the responsibility is ours, it is not Lando’s, but the credit goes to Lando for having continued his progress.”
The McLaren manager explained Lando Norris’ progress over the past winter. “We talked about how he evolved over the winter, especially with regard to, for example, improving qualifying, doing laps that sometimes don’t have to be 100 percent perfect, because when you have a fast car , just be there, and he’s doing it.”
Regarding Norris’ race in Miami, Stella highlighted that “his management of the race is now also very mature. As soon as he saw that there wasn’t much to do after the first lap, he started saving the tires because he knew that at some point he would perform better. Afterwards, the pace he managed to set when the cars in front of him stopped was incredible. He is quick in qualifying, even sometimes controlling his pace, and very mature in the race, making the most of the material”, concluded the McLaren manager.