Stella: Norris’ Confidence And Assertiveness Key To McLaren’s Recent Wins
McLaren boss says Lando Norris showing more self-confidence after Dutch GP Win.
Norris wins again in Netherlands as Stella hails F1 champion form...
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Lando Norris is driving with more self-confidence and it’s showing in his results.
The reigning F1 world champion took his second win in a row and 13th of his career at Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, starting from pole. He had to retake the lead from Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli after losing it at a restart.
Norris remains 83 points behind Antonelli in the standings, but he is slowly cutting into the gap.
“I would say that definitely he is now expressing a higher level of assertiveness,” Stella told reporters at Zandvoort.
“The manoeuvre to pass Antonelli I think is a really good demonstration of that. He is demonstrating more self-confidence.
“This is interesting and I quite like it, sometimes it is not demonstrated by being the most aggressive. Sometimes you are self-confident when you think like 'you know what, I'm not going to have a fight now because I may lose in this fight. It's a very long race, see you at the end'.”
Stella said that meant trusting himself to ease off when needed, while believing he could still make it through in the end. He added that in both Hungary and the Netherlands, Norris gave up the lead from pole but kept his self-belief.
“I think assertiveness and confidence are probably the two characteristics that he has improved the most from a non-technical, non-operational point of view,” Stella added.
Norris has said the current generation of cars are tricky to drive and he’s had to adjust his driving style. He also took credit for Sunday’s win, saying a driver can still make the difference.
Stella agreed Norris is driving like a champion and keeps improving, with the progress starting early in 2025 when “something clicked.”
“I think this approach has led Lando to continuous improvements. It's almost like I see Lando stronger and stronger race by race,” Stella said.
Australian teammate Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, has not won a race in a year. His last victory came from pole at Zandvoort last August.
A Dutch GP hat-trick 🏆#McLarenF1 | #DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/TkHthXrx6L
— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team (@McLarenF1) August 23, 2026
Piastri finished sixth on Sunday, 32 seconds behind Norris. A slow pitstop cost him a position in what was a frustrating afternoon.
Stella said the result was not a fair reflection of Piastri’s competitiveness across the sprint weekend.
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