What Lando Norris’ victory in the 2024 Miami Grand Prix has to do with McLaren’s failure at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix and how valuable the success really is
Lando Norris could have been a Grand Prix winner in 2021. Because at that year’s Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, only a retrospectively incorrect pit strategy when it started to rain prevented the McLaren driver from finishing first
And McLaren team boss Andrea Stella emphasized this after Norris’ maiden victory in Miami: There was never any doubt about the driver. “We were firmly convinced that what was missing to win was not Lando’s fault, but that of the team. We were required to provide him with material that was capable of winning. And as soon as he had that, he did it.”
For Stella, Norris provided the “proof” with his victory in Miami and had already demonstrated this with podium finishes, “even when the car was not really a podium candidate under its own power. For me, that means Lando is on a very good path. “
Sochi 2021 as a turning point for McLaren
And this path reached a “turning point” at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, says Stella. He explicitly refers to “Lando and the team”.
After all, the missed victory in Sochi showed McLaren how a team has to work together under pressure “to make good decisions”, explains Stella. Mercedes had managed this better back then: Lewis Hamilton won, Norris only finished seventh.
In retrospect, McLaren did not insist enough on the pit stop time, says Stella, who was still race director at McLaren under team boss Andreas Seidl at the time.
“The driver on the track can’t see if it’s raining elsewhere. We could see it. The fact that we didn’t force Lando to make a pit stop was our mistake. From that point of view, Lando was already ready [for victory], but we as a team were not. “
Red Bull performance commands respect
“But winning is never easy. That’s why I take my hat off to Red Bull. You can’t underestimate what they achieve,” says Stella. After all, “a lot can go wrong” on the way to victory and anyone who even manages a winning streak is doing “amazing things”.
“I believe we are only at the beginning of such a journey,” says McLaren Team Principal Stella. “Hopefully there will be a few more days like this in the future. “
How much Norris needed that first win
If Stella has his way, then at least Norris can drive free from now on: “Realistically, there was a certain weight on his shoulders. But it was also a burden on our shoulders. Because we knew that if the material was right, Lando would deliver. I’ve said it many times: it’s up to us, not Lando. We feel responsible. “
However, Norris has also evolved, emphasizes Stella. Last year, Norris had made numerous mistakes, especially on a fast lap in qualifying, and had thrown away a better grid position several times.
“Then we talked about the fact that he doesn’t always have to give one hundred percent to be up there at the front. I think he’s putting that into practice now,” said the McLaren team principal.
The “new Norris “
Norris is now also “very mature” in his approach to the race. This was also impressively demonstrated in Miami: “Once it was clear that there wasn’t much to do after the first lap, he took it easy on his tires. In the knowledge that the race would eventually go his way. And the pace he had when the cars in front of him pitted was pretty incredible.”
Norris is now “fast in qualifying, even if he sometimes deliberately holds back a little,” says Stella. “And in the race, he knows how to make the most of his material.” And that’s what makes a real Formula 1 top driver