Lando Norris' dominance of the 2025 System 1 Mexico Grand Prix stemmed from the observe suiting his driving type, reckons McLaren group boss Andrea Stella.
The long-time McLaren racer by no means misplaced place to win from pole on Sunday on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, that means he took the F1 2025 championship lead with 4 rounds remaining.
That's as a result of erstwhile chief Oscar Piastri solely completed fifth within the sister McLaren, because the Australian struggled to deal with the high-altitude, low-grip nature of the Mexico circuit.
It causes the automobiles to slip so much by way of corners and Stella mentioned this suited Norris, who leads Piastri by some extent having reclaimed a championship lead that he misplaced at April's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“These particular low-grip circumstances, they match completely,” mentioned Stella of Norris, who ended McLaren's five-race winless streak. “It is a pure manner of extracting lap time, which is nearly reverse to Oscar's traits.
“It should simply strengthen Lando's confidence and it will likely be vital for the ultimate 4 races. However I believe each Lando and Oscar go into the ultimate 4 races with causes to be assured.
“I believe the group additionally goes into the ultimate 4 races with extra understanding of extract efficiency from the automotive constantly, as a result of over the previous few races earlier than Mexico, at instances, we've got left some efficiency within the storage.”
Lando Norris, McLaren, Andrea Stella, McLaren
Picture by: Andy Hone/ LAT Pictures by way of Getty Pictures
This marks a far cry from the remainder of the 12 months, as Norris had repeatedly said his struggles to push the MCL39 to its restrict. That has notably been seen in qualifying, as Pink Bull's Max Verstappen holds probably the most pole positions this 12 months with seven, in comparison with 5 for each McLaren drivers.
However a breakthrough second got here in a post-Singapore debrief simply two rounds earlier than Mexico, as McLaren and Norris sought to learn how the MCL39 might be arrange extra to his liking.
It will definitely led to the tenth grand prix victory of the 25-year-old's profession. Mexico was additionally probably the most statistically dominant win of any driver since Verstappen in Hungary two years in the past, as Norris completed 30s forward of runner-up Charles Leclerc – 4 seconds shy of the Dutchman's profitable margin in Budapest.
Stella was not stunned by Norris' efficiency although, given he has proven related tempo previously having received from pole on seven events now.
“After we have a look at Lando's current years, we've got seen a weekend with this stage of dominance additionally in another venues,” mentioned Stella. “Final 12 months, we noticed it in Zandvoort, we noticed it in Singapore. So, it is not the primary time, I believe, that Lando reveals performances at this stage.
“Right here [in Mexico], he was very convincing. I believe he was simply primarily quickest in each single session. He was capable of capitalise on the efficiency and the power of the automotive.”
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