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Stella answers: Does Norris need to be more aggressive against 'outstanding' Verstappen?
Lando Norris met Max Verstappen twice at the US Grand Prix on Sunday. On both occasions, Verstappen achieved what he hoped for, as he could overtake the Briton after the start, and then forced him to overtake his RB20 outside of the track, that led to a five-second penalty for the McLaren driver. Does Norris need to become more firm to challenge his rival? Team principal answered the question in the Austin.
"I would not say that Lando needs to be more aggressive. I think anytime you have this kind of duels on track, you learn a little bit," the team principal began following the race.
He continued: "I don't think Lando should change. The fundamental way he goes on this kind of overtaking, on defending manoeuvres, there's some technicalities that possibly can be reviewed."
Stella believes in Norris
According to the Italian, who was previously Fernando Alonso's race engineer, Norris could have got the move done. "I think in this case, if it wasn't on this lap, it could have been the next lap. Lando would have been successful in his manoeuvres. So I don't think you need to change, become aggressive at the risk of not finishing the race."
He then praised Max Verstappen's skill, however, he also once again underlined the stewards should have taken their time with a decision. "Obviously, Max has a lot of experience. We're talking about a very, very capable driver. I'm not disrespecting this. Max is outstanding. And in this case, the message that McLaren are giving is that there was no need for the stewards to interfere with the situation or not under the urgency of deciding during the race."
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