McLaren team principal Andrea Stella expressed his doubts about whether Lando Norris could have overtaken Max Verstappen with a few more laps at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, despite Norris’s strong late-race performance.
Lando Norris initially struggled to keep pace with polesitter Max Verstappen during the first stint on medium tyres. However, after switching to hard tyres during the sole pitstop, Norris began closing the gap. Despite being at a tyre life disadvantage, he started gaining on Verstappen over the last 15 laps but ultimately could not get within DRS range before the final lap. Norris finished less than a second behind Verstappen, who secured his fifth win of the 2024 season.
Norris believed that with ‘one or two more laps,’ he could have made a move on Verstappen. But his team boss, Andrea Stella, wasn’t so sure. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Stella mentioned the difficulty of overtaking at Imola and acknowledged that Verstappen, being a skilled driver, capitalized on the situation. ‘Well, 63 laps is already many laps,’ Stella said. ‘It is what it is and also it is Max Verstappen. I’m sure he was a bit in trouble but managed to get the most out of what he had. So well done, Max, and well done to our drivers, second and fourth.’
Stella praised Norris for his exceptional tyre management, which allowed him to preserve the hard tyres for a final push. Initially, there were concerns that Norris might come under pressure from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but smart tyre management turned the race in Norris’s favor. Stella noted, ‘We lost too much time in the first stint behind Max due to rear degradation, but the strategy to save tyres later paid off. Lando has become a master at managing the tyres.’ He added that Oscar Piastri could have also been on the podium if not for qualifying issues the day before.
Norris himself reflected on the race, expressing some frustration at not securing a win despite the team’s recent improvements. ‘I fought hard until the very last lap but lost out a bit too much to Max in the beginning,’ he said. ‘He was better in the first stint, and we were stronger in the second. It’s still a surprise that it’s frustrating not to win, but after last weekend and the improvements, it’s what we should have started to expect.’
While Lando Norris showed remarkable skill and determination, Andrea Stella remains unsure if more laps would have changed the outcome against a formidable opponent like Max Verstappen. McLaren takes the positives from this race, looking forward with optimism.
