McLaren boss Andrea Stella reckons that beating Max Verstappen and Red Bull added to the prestige attached to Lando Norris’ Formula 1 championship win in 2025.
Verstappen’s reign as champion came to an end despite winning the race in Abu Dhabi, as Norris secured the third place that he needed to seal a maiden Drivers’ title.
The championship had long appeared to be a duel between the McLaren drivers as Norris and Oscar Piastri registered 12 wins between them in the opening 15 races.
However, Red Bull executed a sensational turnaround that brought Verstappen, who had lagged 104 points behind Piastri with nine rounds to go, back into contention.
But while Verstappen concluded the campaign with three consecutive victories, Norris and McLaren did enough to claim a title double with a mere two points in hand.
Stella, who has worked in the sport since 2000, has repeated that Norris has come out on top at a time when the level on the grid has never been higher than it is now.
“I think as a season, I was saying before with Luca Colajanni [McLaren Communications Director] that it reminded us very much [of] 2003, a season that ended up at the last race,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week. “It was a few bumps towards the end, and the whole season it was very tense and balanced, and that was a success of Michael Schumacher.
“And then we had obviously the 2007, once again we go at the last race, three drivers.
“So there’s a few examples, a few situations taken from the past that I’ve been thinking about, I have to say during the entire weekend.
“And I think when it comes to the quality of the driver, the quality of the success that Lando achieved this season, I think the level of Formula 1 drivers nowadays is very, very high.
“Probably because the drivers already, from when they drive go-karts, they have telemetry data, they are so well supported, and they’re just on pace.
“We see for some established drivers, it’s sometimes difficult to keep up with the new generation.”
Norris ends Verstappen’s reign as World Champion
Stella also claimed that being the one to thwart Verstappen’s strive to equal Schumacher with five successive titles has placed Norris’ accolade on a greater pedestal.
“So it’s a very high-quality achievement,” he continued.
“I think it’s also an achievement to beat Max Verstappen, four times World Champion, in a team that knows the game very well.
“So I think it’s one that is very, very high level, very high quality, very prestigious.
“And, like I said before, it’s also incredible that Oscar was also so close to this kind of achievement, which I think testifies that this is also a team achievement.”
READ MORE – McLaren highlights the ‘turning points’ that helped propel Lando Norris to F1 title success in 2025
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