(L to R): Andrea Stella (ITA) McLaren Team Principal with Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren. 29.03.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Preparation Day.
Lando Norris has appeared to reaffirm his commitment to McLaren by declaring team boss Andrea Stella has produced the biggest injector of faith to him since his Formula 1 debut in 2019.
With Andreas Seidl vacating the role of team principal to become CEO at Sauber Motorsport over the winter ahead of the group’s transition to Audi in 2026, McLaren opted to replace the German internally by promoting Stella from his previous role as Executive Director, Racing.
Since his appointment McLaren has endured a difficult start to the season, having openly admitted over the winter it had failed to hit development targets with its MCL60 car.
A subsequent failure to score points in the opening two races for the first time in six years resulted in the Woking outfit announcing a restructuring of its technical department, including the exit of James Key.
Despite the upheaval behind the scenes, Norris admits the people in place at the top and the finalisation of updated infrastructure at its impressive Woking base has preserved his belief McLaren will eventually return to the front of the field.
“I guess it would be some bits of both,” he responded when asked about the biggest factor for his continued faith in McLaren.
“Little bit of new simulator, the simulator is the final piece of the puzzle before you bring an upgrade to real life, it’s a thing that you try on the sim.
“When things are a little bit out of date, they’re not giving you the right feeling, it’s hard to go ‘this is the direction we want, this is the direction we don’t want’ kind of thing.”
Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL60. 31.03.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Practice Day.
The Brit has also attributed his trust in CEO Zak Brown and ex-team principal Seidl over the years for his unwavering commitment to McLaren while admitting that the arrival of Stella into the hot seat this year has provided the biggest boost to his confidence yet.
“I think a lot of it for me is personnel, but I’m also not the best person. I don’t know who is amazing, and who isn’t. I guess I have the understanding, like, everyone knows who Adrian Newey is. Everyone knows of people who have done things for many years in the past and created history.
“So I don’t know a lot from that side and therefore you could say I’m not a personal kind of guy. I gain faith from the people that I work with.
“When I work with Andreas or with Zak, with Andrea, those are the people that I kind of put my faith in,” he added. “Andrea gives me a lot of faith, probably the most I’ve seen in my time here in F1. So that’s a good thing.”
After surviving a race of attrition in Australia, McLaren celebrated a double points haul with Norris sixth and Oscar Piastri – embarking on his home debut – eighth.
The papaya-liveried squad now sit fifth in the Constructors’ Standings, ahead of Alpine – its main rivals from last season – following the Anglo-French side’s nightmare ending to proceedings Down Under.
While Norris and Piastri emerged through the carnage unscathed, any team’s worst nightmare was realised for Alpine as Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon came to blows when the race was restarted with three laps to go following a red flag interval.
McLaren remains hopeful that it can fight for points positions on merit from the next round in Azerbaijan as the team is set to introduce a substantial upgrade package.
Keyword: Norris: Stella biggest injector of faith at McLaren since F1 debut