McLaren boss Andrea Stella has highlighted the loss to Max Verstappen and initial troubles in 2025 as two moments that inspired Lando Norris to the Formula 1 title.
Norris’ third place in Abu Dhabi was enough to clinch him a maiden Drivers’ Championship over Verstappen, who won the race, and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.
The Briton had an outside chance to dethrone Verstappen last term as McLaren eclipsed Red Bull, but mistakes across the board saw the Dutchman retain the crown.
And while he was backed to end Verstappen’s reign coming into the recent campaign, Norris’ struggles with McLaren’s MCL39 enabled Piastri to steal the upper hand.
But having dropped to 34 points behind his team-mate when he retired at Zandvoort in August, Norris wrestled back the points lead with an impressive six-race surge.
Stella, who has steered McLaren to a coveted title double, believes those occasions helped to shape Norris into the driver who will get his hands on the ultimate prize.
“The level of Formula 1 drivers nowadays is so high that you cannot succeed,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.
“And for clarity, when we talk about succeeding, it’s so close even in the classification.
“And even between Lando and Oscar, they are two worthwhile champions and it was a matter of a few points in the end when you scored more than 400 points.
“But to compete at this level, the only way to stay in the quest is to keep evolving continuously.
“And if I look at Lando, definitely there was a lot that was taken away from the quest last year, even if it didn’t go to the last race.
“There were some learning points, like [the clash with Verstappen in] Austria, it was a tough one. I think Lando elevated his sense of status, like ‘I can compete with Max’.
“This season there was another important turning point in my view, which is the way Lando responded to the difficulties we had at the start of the season.
“It was the start of a process which was structured, holistic, it involved personal development, professional driving, racecraft.
“And I think it makes me particularly glad that Lando could capitalise on this, because this has been something that I’ve not necessarily seen many times before in terms of the amount of work, the people involved, and the rate of development.”
Stella hails Norris and Piastri response to setbacks
Stella also reckons that getting to experience the emotions involved in a tense title race has seen Norris and Piastri become better-equipped at dealing with setbacks.
“This again is valid for both our drivers, absorbing a couple of tough moments,” the Italian continued.
“When we needed to tell the drivers that we got disqualified [in Las Vegas], that was tough, because they had done the job, but we had not. And they lost a lot of points.
“And in a similar way, absorbing the fact that in Qatar we had a moment where we could have done better. But they never pointed the finger at the team.
“There are so many aspects in which both drivers have grown, and especially this constant support of the team, not only is the one that makes me most proud of our two guys, but I think is also the most important for the overall success.”
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