McLaren team boss Andrea Stella was impressed by his driver Lando Norris‘s performance at the Austin race. The British driver was stuck behind Charles Leclerc for a long time at the Circuit of the Americas, losing valuable time in the pursuit of eventual winner Max Verstappen. According to Stella, Norris particularly handled the second stint well when he found himself behind the Monegasque driver again: ‘We saw Lando at his best today.’
Lando Norris saw Charles Leclerc overtake him in the early stages of the United States Grand Prix. The Monegasque driver passed the Brit for second place in the race and would pose a threat to the Brit’s second place until five laps from the end. Although Norris couldn’t chase Max Verstappen due to the battle with the Ferrari driver, team boss Andrea Stella was impressed by the McLaren driver.
“For me, today (in Austin) was a typical race for Lando,” the Italian told the media present at the Circuit of the Americas. “I think he kept his cool, if you want to put it that way, because he understood that we had to overtake Charles quickly, but also had to make sure we finished the race. From this point of view, he showed some patience when it was not possible to overtake.”
‘Lando at his best’
Norris found himself stuck behind Leclerc again after his pit stop. The tyres of the MCL39 became too hot during the Brit’s subsequent overtaking attempts, causing him to drop back from the Ferrari driver to cool his rubber. Stella praises the McLaren driver for this decision.
“Lando did something, I’m not sure how visible it was, that would ultimately be decisive in the second stint, when he decided to back off completely, let the tyres cool down and then attack again,” the Italian continues. “We saw Lando at his best today. We just need to check if there was a chance to maintain the position in turn one. It would have been a very different race if we were behind Max instead of Charles.”
