McLaren boss Andrea Stella hailed Lando Norris’ “stylistic” approach to his current struggles, comparing his mindset to Formula 1 champions of yesteryear.
Norris has been open, candid and at times downright despondent during the course of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver has gone from exclaiming he’s “clueless” after qualifying sixth, to saying his comfort with the MCL39 couldn’t be “more opposite” to his feeling with the team’s 2024 challenger.
It’s clear that Norris is in a rut, one he needs to pull himself out of if he’s to challenge team-mate Oscar Piastri, whose victory in Bahrain was evident of a cool, calm and collected approach.
Still, Stella said that not even world champions of years gone by wouldn’t be affected by feeling ill at ease within an F1 cockpit.
“When we talk about strength in professional sport, I think I have not seen any professional athlete or driver, and I think staying within the domain of F1 drivers, I’ve seen various multiple world champions, I have not seen any of them that when there is a situation whereby you would like to do something with the car, but the car doesn’t do exactly what you would like, they are completely comfortable,” Stella told select media, including Motorsport Week, on Sunday.
“It is an uncomfortable situation, but the way Lando is navigating through this situation, from a substantial point of view, is the same as other champions that I’ve seen in the past.
“I think Lando, if anything, is more stylistic.”
Stella hailed the fact that Norris’ self-critical approach is healthy for the team.
“I know some other champions in the past, they would be much more about the problem is somewhere else,” Stella said.
“And there’s something important here, which is something I admire about Lando, and makes me very privileged and lucky as a Team Principal, that he tends to absorb and point the blame on himself.
“Offloading entirely the team, from like, you guys, not your problem, it was me.
“Which is inaccurate, because we know that we have made some changes to the car, which made Lando’s life a bit more difficult.
“But think that there are some drivers, that as soon as there’s a problem, oh, their team, and the finger is going to the team.
“And this is not healthy, this is not something on which you build.”
Stella draws Schumacher comparison to Norris
Stella also drew a comparison to another world champion, perhaps one of the finest examples of a determined driver in the sport’s history, Michael Schumacher.
Stella used this as an example to explain that an “entourage” is needed to create the perfect conditions for a driver to succeed.
“Around the driver, there’s a team, there’s an entourage, we all try and contribute,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s a word, sometimes it’s a conversation, sometimes it’s a process and an approach. And you have to take driver’s management as part of running a F1 team, to be honest, I’m not adding anything special here, since my early days in Formula 1, I could see, especially on Michael Schumacher’s side, how much work was going on around the driver to maximize the performance.
“It’s a business in itself, within the business.”
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