McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was a confident man when talking about his team’s chances of making progress this season. Not only is he talking about hunting Ferrari down for P2. But he also provided Lando Norris with hope regarding him achieving his first-ever race win.
On the F1 Nation podcast, Stella said, “We look at the fact that Ferrari is not far, [and] is definitely within the reach of our development capability. Therefore, we are fully determined to deliver enough performance on the car to go and attack Ferrari for the second place.”
McLaren is a team on the ascendency. They have improved a lot over the last few years and were regular podium contenders in the second half of 2023. However, they have failed to win races, which is what the team and Lando Norris wants the most. The young Briton came close to winning once in Russia in 2021, but heartbreakingly lost out due to a strategy goof-up. Since then he has tried his best to stand on the top step of the podium but has failed to do so.
However, Stella’s latest updates should be enough to put a smile on Norris’ face. Speaking about the same, Stella added, “If we deliver the same kind of developments we delivered last race then why not thinking about winning races this year? I don’t want to look arrogant. But I think this is within the numbers.”
While Norris has not won any race in F1, his teammate Oscar Piastri knows what it is like to finish P1. Yes, he didn’t win a Grand Prix race but emerged victorious in the F1 Sprint in Qatar last season. This is something Norris reminds himself every day.
Lando Norris hates race-winning questions
Norris isn’t happy about the fact that he doesn’t have a race win. Nowadays, even a podium finish isn’t enough to lift the Bristol-born driver’s mood, as evident by an incident following his P3 finish in Melbourne last month.
A fan shouted, “When are you gonna win a race, Lando?”
This didn’t sit well with Norris, who in turn, flipped the fan off. The McLaren driver’s inability to win a race has been a topic in the F1 community for a long time now. He is considered to be one of the most talented drivers and even tipped as a future world champion. But, he has to start that journey by competing for wins first.
Norris is ambitious. He did sign a contract with McLaren ahead of the start of this season, which will extend his stay beyond 2026. But, if the papaya outfit fails to provide him with a race-winning car, he could look elsewhere.
