Andrea Stella: Lando Norris is “significantly more confident” than in the 2025 title fight

– McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is convinced that Lando Norris has emerged stronger from his coming-of-age test in the 2025 Formula 1 title fight. The experiences from last season have led to better performances and greater confidence in 2026, says the experienced Italian.

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Although the current world champion celebrated his first win of the season only at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Stella believes that Norris has become a “significantly more confident” driver since the beginning of the year. “I think what we are seeing here is simply the continuation of this development curve.”

Last year, Norris openly admitted that he sometimes lacked the final bit of confidence. Only winning his first world championship title at the season finale in Abu Dhabi finally proved to him that he can compete at the highest level.

This strengthened confidence seems to have carried the 26-year-old Briton into the new 2026 season. So far, Norris has clearly had the upper hand over his teammate Oscar Piastri – a reversal of the power balance compared to the first half of the 2025 season.

Norris doing “a better job than last year”

“I feel like I’m doing a better job this year than last year,” Norris said after his win in Budapest, McLaren’s first success of the 2026 season in the fight against Mercedes. “It’s been like that for some time now.”

“That doesn’t automatically mean you win races. But today, when we had a competitive car, I was able to prove exactly that. I could go out, win confidently, and take pole with a good car. So I’m doing a better job, and that’s because I’ve worked on many different areas.”

“Some off-track with my team, others here at the racetrack. Many small differences add up – and today you see the result.” In the drivers’ championship, Norris is in fifth place, with 36 points more than teammate Piastri in seventh.

McLaren team principal “really impressed” by Norris

Team principal Stella also sees a clear upward trend in Norris. The key to his current form lies in how the Briton reacted to his difficulties in the first third of the 2025 season. At that time, he had to adapt both technically and mentally to align his driving style with the 2025 McLaren.

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“I was really impressed by Lando and how he reacted to the first third of last season,” Stella now says. “There were highs and lows, there were difficulties and clear points from which we had to learn.”

“He took on this challenge. He worked on himself, just like the engineering group around him and his entire environment. That was a great development – both personally and in terms of driving.”

“What we see now is simply the continuation of this development. Lando has become significantly more confident. I believe he now knows much better which tools he has at his disposal as a driver and how to use them optimally.”

Soon also “a very strong” Oscar Piastri?

Stella is also convinced that Piastri is currently going through a similar development process as he gets used to the new car for the 2026 season. Recently, the Australian beat his teammate in qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix in early June.

Since then, the reigning world champion leads the internal qualifying duel, including sprint qualifying, 11:4. “We have seen great development with Lando, and honestly, the same applies to Oscar,” added the McLaren team principal.

“Oscar is still getting better accustomed to the 2026 cars, which offer little grip. There is still potential to find some pace there. Great work is being done between Oscar, his engineering team, and his entire environment. That’s why I believe we will see a very strong Oscar in the second half of the season.”

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