Brazil marked the end of a dream for Lando Norris and McLaren in F1. Indeed, the championship hopes for Lando Norris were sidelined by the overall results for the Woking team, even when the papaya-colored cars showed absolute dominance. Only in the last few Grands Prix did the Woking team explicitly try to fuel Lando Norris’s hopes, perhaps when it was already too late. The Hungarian and Monza Grands Prix, in other teams, would have been managed very differently. It was certainly noble to offer Oscar Piastri the freedom to express his immense potential.
But if the British team had truly believed in their chances of winning the drivers’ title, as well as the constructors’, perhaps the Bristol-born driver would still be in contention for the title today. According to Andrea Stella, McLaren’s team principal, Lando lacks the points lost in close battles with Max Verstappen. The Italian manager does not regret how Norris handled the battles with the Dutch rival, as these experiences have helped him mature. The British driver necessarily had to raise the bar to hold his own against the “almost” four-time world champion.
F1, Andrea Stella’s Limited Regrets
Despite some on-track incidents, the engineer from Orvieto acknowledges that Jos’s son is one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history. Beating Verstappen requires drivers and the team to bring their best version to the track. Although the McL38 has been considered the best car in the field since Imola, this superiority has not been fully capitalized on by the 1999-born driver. Nevertheless, at least verbally, Andrea Stella limits his regrets to the unfortunate collision in Austria that eliminated Norris from the race and the penalty imposed on Lando at the Austin Grand Prix, which was later appealed and dismissed by the FIA.
The Woking team is pleased with their lead driver’s race conduct, which reflects the team’s values: competing fairly, correctly, and sportingly. This is the official stance of the leading team in the constructors’ standings. However, with all due respect to the very competent Italian team principal, the historic English team’s list of regrets should be much broader. The 2018 F2 vice-champion has shown evident limitations in emotionally managing the fight at the top. Verstappen recognized this long ago, and despite having inferior resources in many rounds, he wore down his title rival with the only tool at his disposal: aggression and mastery in close combat.
The psychological toll that Max has inflicted on Lando’s mind is evident in the questionable statements made by the English driver at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix. A race that will go down in history as one of the most powerful displays of a driver cannot be dismissed as a fortunate success, born of favorable events. In many victories, the goddess of fortune is a determining factor, as in Miami, where the timing of the Safety Car gifted Lando his first career win, or in the form of rain that denied him victory at Sochi in 2021.
According to Andrea Stella, his driver will emerge from this season more mature; however, the lesson from this campaign will be hard to digest. In our view, Lando will have a better idea of what it means to fight at the top, but he may also have developed an awareness that he’s not yet ready for the ultimate prize. After all, the most telling fact of the season about to conclude is that the Woking team itself was never truly convinced of their driver’s world title chances, despite having the best car on the grid. The few regrets from McLaren’s team principal confirm this.
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