Andrea Stella believes that Lando Norris’s good continuous performance at the Formula 1 Dutch GP is just another point that shows McLaren’s performance improvement in recent calendar stages.
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In Zandvoort, the current grid champion secured pole position, beating the two Mercedes. In the earlier Sprint race, he finished third, behind only George Russell and Charles Leclerc.
The performance comes precisely in the stage following the one where the Briton achieved the first F1 2026 victory, in Hungary, which excites the McLaren boss. “I think it was a very positive qualifying session, not just because of the qualifying itself here in Zandvoort, but because it confirms the pole position we achieved in Hungary; that kind of gives consistency to a trend,” he said.
“We can see that the car works well in high downforce setups. It seems to perform well with new soft tires, with a lot of grip coming from the tires. But, at the same time, we have to acknowledge that the Sprint race showed us that we need to improve the car with used tires and reduce tire degradation if we want to be competitive tomorrow,” he continued.
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Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri starts from fourth position at the Dutch GP. “As for Oscar, I think he is driving very well this weekend,” he added.
“We are talking about a difference of a tenth or a tenth and a half. Oscar loses that time in some corners, so he is really very focused and much more satisfied with his performance and his interaction with the car than he was in Hungary,” he continued.
“Without a doubt, we enter the race with the goal of achieving a double podium. I think Oscar has the necessary pace, but, you know, if you asked me who was the fastest after the Sprint, I would have said Leclerc, and Leclerc is not far off,” he concluded.
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