Andrea Stella applauds Lando Norris’ maturity: “He focused beyond the 1% problem and showed his speed here”. McLaren’s Lando Norris secures a vital win at Monaco.

Papaya on top
At Monaco, McLaren returns to victory with Lando Norris: the mandatory two pit stops were not enough to disrupt the order set by yesterday’s qualifying. The Englishman withstood pressure from Charles Leclerc and secured his second win of the season, after the one achieved at the opening GP in Australia. This victory also boosts him significantly in the standings: Norris is now only three points behind Oscar Piastri, who finished the race in third place today.

Lando’s maturation
Interviewed by Sky Sport F1 after the race, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella applauded his driver, explaining how the team helped him overcome a mentally difficult period: “The greatest credit, however, goes to Lando, for his strength, character, determination, and the fact that he allowed himself to be convinced not to focus too much on the 1% that doesn’t work. There is always 99% to build on. He tends to focus on that 1%, but it’s a trait that can be used to grow a lot. The important thing, though, is not to make it too much of a problem, but to work functionally. That’s what we’ve done in recent weeks.”

Continuing his analysis, Stella also commented on Lando’s fastest lap yesterday, highlighting the mental step the British #4 has made compared to the recent past: “If we look at the Q3 lap that earned him pole position, there are a couple of corners that weren’t very accurate — Stella admitted — the Lando from Jeddah might have let himself get caught up in emotion and demoralization, but instead he stayed very calm and made the difference in the last two corners. My impression — the Italian manager added — knowing the talent and resources of Lando and Oscar, is that we have seen only a part, but there is still a lot of talent to work on and capitalize. I want to think we are only at the beginning.”

Personal satisfaction
“The victory in Monaco is extremely important for our whole journey — Andrea Stella concluded — personally, it’s been more than 20 years since I was part of a team that won in Monaco, so it’s also very important from a personal point of view. For McLaren too, a long time had passed: we were so far away from winning races that winning in Monaco is another one of those milestones we are setting on this new path.”