Stella puts responsibility on McLaren: 'Lando was competitive all weekend'

22:50, 19 Apr

Updated: 23:32, 19 Apr

byNorberto Mujica

Lando Norris crashed out of qualifying, taking him out of contention for pole. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes the responsibility lies on the track and the McLaren car, not his driver.

Stella sees more responsibility in the track and the McLaren car

In the aftermath of the crash, the Italian team principal highlights how strong Norris appeared to be ahead of the qualifying session.

"Lando this weekend was definitely quite competitive, every single session, every set of tyres, he put together good laps, competitive laps. I think in addition to the utilisation of the new tyres, which was very good. He also pulled off some quite impressive race pace. So I think it was all ready for a very strong weekend."

Norris lost control of his McLaren coming out of Turn 4 which launched him into the wall on the outside of the entry into Turn 5. "But I think in Q3, when he tries to squeeze this extra millisecond, just the car doesn't respond as he expects. So I think this is a behavior that kind of surprises him."

"The car understeered a bit in corner 4, ended up on the outside kerb, and this outside kerb can be quite unforgiving. So in a way, it's almost episodical, what's happening. And it's an episode that I think starts from some of the work that we have done on the car."

'McLaren made MCL39 quicker, but less predictable for Norris'

Stella sees the point of origin of Norris' woes in McLaren's development work into their 2025 F1 car.

"It made the car faster overall, but I think it took something away from Lando in terms of predictability of the car once he pushes the car at the limit. So it's a responsibility of the team to try and improve the car and to try and correct this behaviour."

"We want Lando to be confident, comfortable, that he can push the car and when he needs to find a few milliseconds he can do it with a behavior of the car that, ok, maybe you realise 'I pushed a bit too much,' but without this sort of macroscopic consequences."