McLaren boss Andrea Stella confessed it’s up to the team to help “incredible talent” Lando Norris after the Briton struggled with a below-par qualifying performance at the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The narrative following Norris into Bahrain was that he was still struggling ot get to grips with his MCL39, and Stella admitted the team was making “adjustments” to help its driver get more comfortable at the Bahrain International Circuit.
First in FP1, and second in the subsequent two practice sessions pointed towards Noris faring better, but question marks were lingering ahead of qualifying, with the latter two showings topped by Piastri, who eked out a slender margin over his team-mate.
Norris even admitted to his car feeling “dreadful” after FP2.
Alas, after matching Piastri through Q1 and Q2 on Saturday, a scruffy opening sector was costly for Norris in Q3, and he wound up sixth as his team-mate took pole.
It was reminiscent of the qualifying struggles Norris had in Shanghai, and he was despondent once out of the car, saying he felt “clueless” and had “been off it all weekend.”
Those were just snippets of a host of self-critical remarks, and amid questions over title implications, Norris said he “couldn’t care less” about what others were doing.
Stella was asked about Norris’ mindset in regards to having his best chance to win a Drivers’ title, in what is clearly the fastest car of the F1 field in 2025, and how the team can help elevate him from his self-critical rut.
“Well, first of all, I would say this is his greatest opportunity so far,” Stella replied.
“I hope in the future at McLaren there will be opportunities every year for both drivers to be in contention for the Drivers’ World Championship.”
Stella then waxed lyrical about how Norris’ self-critical nature is “a way to excel” and how it is, in a way, honourable, keeping him from pointing fingers at the McLaren team.
It’s a trait Stella feels not all drivers possess, adding “we appreciate and we thank Lando for giving us the full support, the full trust, somehow taking occasionally, like in these cases where he doesn’t put together a lap in Q3, the blame on himself.”
So when it comes to Norris’ current predicament, Stella suggested it’s up to the McLaren outfit to be reflective and ask how it can help the Briton.
“My approach is first of all to look in the mirror, the team should look in the mirror and say ‘what should we do better to make Lando more comfortable and put him in condition to use his incredible talent,’” Stella said.
“And then when you have to deal with drivers and team members and the team overall, conversation, dialogue is always the most powerful tool and the one on which we lean constantly.”
Norris still showcasing speed despite Q3 mishap
Despite Norris failing to live up to the McLaren MCL39’s potential in the Q3 top-10 shootout, Stella pointed out several aspects of the Briton’s weekend to be proud of.
“Lando is a very fast driver, a naturally fast driver, with an incredible race craft, and even now that he’s been struggling to put together laps in Q3, actually during the weekend, he shows this speed,” he said.
“Like today in Q1, we saw, immediately fast, the FP1 session, he pretty much dominated the session.
“I think before here, pretty much every Q2 session he was the fastest. So, it’s more a phase, I think, when it comes to Q3, putting together the lap, that hasn’t worked very well recently.”
He also exclaimed how Norris’ troubles are “a short phase,” hailing his contribution in year’s gone by.
“We are talking about the driver that has led the journey of McLaren to the front, together with Oscar, and has delivered us the world championship after 26 years, and is just now in this temporary phase in which while pushing the car to the limit, there’s a few things that don’t go exactly as he expects,” Stella said.
“And when you go for the extra one-tenth of a second in Q3, this becomes more visible.”
Stella also explained that McLaren is aware of the issues plaguing Norris whilst talking up his chances for the race.
“We understand what it is, it will just require a bit of adaptation from Lando himself, and some adaptations from the team,” he said.
“But I think the understanding is good, and we are very optimistic that this will be resolved, and also we have to say that this doesn’t affect the race pace.
“We look forward to tomorrow, I think already in practice Lando has shown a very strong lap in the race run simulations, so I’m really looking forward to seeing Lando finding his way back tomorrow to the front of the pack.”
READ MORE – McLaren’s Lando Norris ‘clueless’ after ‘not good enough’ Bahrain qualifying
