Lando Norris achieved an unexpected pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1, and his performance received strong praise from Andrea Stella. The McLaren boss described the lap as one of the most impressive he has witnessed in his 450 GPs in the category.
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The result gained even more weight due to the difficulties Norris faced during the weekend in Madrid. The British driver missed all of FP2 because of a gearbox problem and reached Q3 only in sixth position after the first attempts, but managed to beat Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds on his last fast lap.
For Stella, Norris’s ability to react under pressure shows an important evolution: “Lando has developed a lot of emotional resilience in races and can access the best of his potential more regularly, and sometimes even raise the level further,” said the manager.
The McLaren boss highlighted that the margin could have been much larger. According to Stella, Norris lost three and a half tenths in the last corner, yet still secured pole: “The most impressive thing is that it was the pole position, despite losing three and a half tenths in the last corner, which means it could have been a very convincing pole,” he said.
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Stella also detailed what made the lap so special by analyzing telemetry data. He pointed out the precision in braking, entry speed, use of curbs, and power recovery as decisive elements: “Everything was executed with a very unique level of precision,” he added.
In the manager’s assessment, the main characteristic of the lap was the precise execution in every meter of the circuit: “I think Lando delivered one of the best performances of his career,” concluded Stella.
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