McLaren boss Andrea Stella praised the performance from Lando Norris in Formula 1‘s United States Grand Prix, saying it was a display from the Brit that was “at its finest”.
Norris started the race from second position, but lost ground to Charles Leclerc at Turn 1. From then on, his would-be challenge to pole-sitter Max Verstappen was nullified.
Instead, Norris was forced to battle Leclerc, which he did across most of the afternoon, spread out over two periods punctuated by pit stops.
On both occasions, Norris overtook the Ferrari, and in doing so, consolidated second, finishing ahead of Oscar Piastri, who was fifth, gaining vital points on his team-mate.
Stella heaped praise on his driver, stating that it was a typical Norris performance, and intimated that he may have been able to win had it not been for the Leclerc battle.
“Well, for me, today is one of the ‘Lando’s race’,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week post-race in Austin.
“It’s very good when there’s high degradation, it’s good when you have to run long stints, it’s good when there’s not much grip, it’s hot.
“I think he kept a level head, if you say it like this, in understanding that we needed to be fast in overtaking Charles, but we also needed to make sure we finished the race.
“And I think from this point of view, he showed some patience when it was not possible to overtake.
“He did, I’m not sure how much this was visible, something that ultimately might have been decisive in the second stint when he decided to just step off completely, cool down the tyres and then go again.
“So, I think we have seen Lando’s performance at its finest. If anything, we need to just check whether there was an opportunity in corner one to retain the position which would have unfolded a completely different race if we were following Max rather than Charles.”
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