Stella: MCL39 changes 'have taken something away from Norris’

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has once again come to Lando Norris’ defence following the Briton’s costly crash in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

While Norris ended up 10th after clattering the Turn 5 wall in Q3, Stella insisted the mistake wasn’t purely on the driver, revealing that recent developments to the McLaren MCL39 have compromised the car’s predictability – especially under pressure.

Norris had been one of the stars of the weekend up to that point, topping both FP2 and FP3 and heading into qualifying with renewed confidence after a tough outing in Bahrain.

However, in the most crucial session, the McLaren driver overcommitted into Turn 4, clipped the kerb on exit, and was pitched into the barriers before even setting a representative lap time.

Yet, as the dust settled, Stella refused to let the incident define the Briton’s weekend. Instead, he pointed to the broader context, revealing how the team’s development of the MCL39 has inadvertently left Norris vulnerable.

Stella’s Defence of Norris

The McLaren chief began by highlighting Norris’ strong form leading up to the Q3 incident.

“Lando this weekend was definitely quite competitive,” Stella said quoted by Motorsport.com. “Every single session, every set of tyres, he put together good laps.”

But when it came time to extract the final tenths in Q3, the Italian revealed a deeper issue with the car’s evolving characteristics that caught Norris off guard.

“I think in Q3, when Lando tries to squeeze a few more milliseconds out of the car, what we see is that the car just doesn’t respond as he expects,” he explained.

“So, this is a behaviour that surprised him. The car understeered a bit in Turn 4, ended up on the outside kerb, and this outside kerb can be quite unforgiving.”

According to Stella, it’s the result of changes the team has made to the car’s performance profile.

“What’s happening is an episode that starts from some of the work that we have done on the car,” he said. “It made the car faster overall, but it took something away from Lando in terms of predictability once he pushes the car at the limit.”

'Lando doesn’t accept to be slow'

Norris’ immediate reaction after the crash on the team radio – calling himself a “f***ing idiot” – revealed his frustration, but Stella was quick to contextualize the mistake as part of a broader challenge posed by modern Formula 1 machinery.

Drawing comparisons to Lewis Hamilton, Stella made the case that even the sport’s most experienced drivers are struggling with today’s ultra-fast, high-downforce cars.

“These cars are so fast, they are so demanding in terms of just adopting a very natural driving style,” Stella said.

“We hear this even from Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, and yet he talks about driving the car in a natural way, because these cars are too fast to think.”

“You either get what you anticipate from the car, or you’re going to be slow, and Lando doesn’t accept to be slow.”

That unwillingness to back off, Stella argued, is why it’s up to the team to give their driver the tools he needs.

“So, it’s our responsibility to make sure that we give him a car that is at the level of his talent, and to try and correct this behaviour, because we want Lando to be confident and comfortable that he can push the car.”

With McLaren’s package showing strong pace overall – Oscar Piastri will line up second on Sunday’s grid alongside Max Verstappen – Stella will be hoping Norris can regroup quickly and capitalize on his speed in the race.

Read also: Norris seeking ‘to put a plan in place’ for Jeddah race after Q3 bust

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