Following his incredible 13-place jump at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Lando Norris remained in the spotlight. The British driver managed to finish at P5 in his McLaren after beginning the race from P18. And citing this magnificent performance, team principal Andre Stella praised Norris and even compared it to a drive by Fernando Alonso.
In the middle of the season, McLaren saw a significant upturn, which became apparent when Norris passed ten cars on the Mexico course prompting Stella to claim that the fascinating drive resembled that of Fernando Alonso in Valencia. According the Race, the Italian boss said, “ That was one of the best driver performances I have ever seen from any of the drivers I’ve worked worth. It reminded me of Valencia 2012 [Alonso].”
McLaren boss Andrea Stella full of praise for Lando Norris:
“His race engineer Will Joseph turned to me and said to me that’s one of the best of Lando. I said, Will, that’s one of the best at all… One of the best races for a driver that I’ve been part of.” #F1 #MexicoGP
— Phillip Horton (@PHortonF1) October 29, 2023
Fernando Alonso and Andrea Stella collaborated when the Spaniard was employed with Ferrari. Despite the fact that Alonso’s collaboration with the Prancing Horse was never as successful as expected, he had a number of memorable drives. At the European Grand Prix in Valencia, one of them was on display. The 42-year-old had a difficult task ahead of him as he began the race in 11th place and tried to catch up to the leaders. Despite this, Alonso was still able to win in front of his home crowd.
In a similar vein, Norris also demonstrated his abilities while riding in the Mexico City Grand Prix. The fact that he accomplished this on a circuit where the driver cannot manage to navigate quickly due to the altitude and thinner air remains fascinating. In the end, however, he skillfully narrowed the gap and secured some significant points for the team.
Has Lando Norris’ incredible drive in Mexico still kept McLaren in the race for P3?
For McLaren, which was briefly on the verge of collapse, Lando Norris’ incredible driving flipped the weekend around dramatically. With his incredible drive on the Mexico track and Piastri’s P8, the team has increased the distance on the Aston Martin and has maintained consistency in their battle for P3 with Ferrari.
However, Sucderia has strengthened their P3 standing after racking up 27 points on a track like Mexico, nearly double McLaren’s total. Thus, they seem to be safe ahead of the last three races.
It appears unlikely that McLaren will make the huge leap to overturn Ferrari’s 93-point advantage with three races left. However, for now, their main worry will be protecting their P4 against Aston Martin, who appear to have lost the P4 battle with their performance.
