Led by Andrea Stella, McLaren took a big step toward regaining control of the 2025 F1 season as Lando Norris pummelled the field at the F1 Mexico City GP. A 30-second victory over Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen was a big statement.
Andrea Stella on Lando Norris and his total control of the F1 Mexico City GP weekend
As part of the mandatory rookie running in 2025, Pato O’Ward took Lando Norris’ car in FP1 at the F1 Mexico City GP. When the Brit, returned to his MCL39, he was unbelievably fast from Friday afternoon through to Sunday afternoon.
Although he was only P4 in FP2, Norris’ race pace was extraordinarily good and a sign of things to come. Fastest in FP3, he was P1 in Q2. In Q3 a brilliant final lap saw him take pole from Leclerc by 0.262s.
Andrea Stella explained in a print media session why the Mexican circuit suited him so much and previous weekends of dominance he had in 2024.
“I think when we look at Lando’s recent years, we have seen a weekend with this level of dominance also in some other venues. Like last year, I think we saw it in Zandvoort. We saw it in Singapore. So it’s not the first time I feel that Landos exhibits performances at this level.
“Here he was very convincing. I think he was just essentially fastest in every single session.
“He was able to capitalise on the performance and the strength of the car. In a way, these special low-grip conditions, they fit perfectly with his natural way of extracting lap time, which is almost like opposite to Oscar’s characteristics.”
Why the F1 Mexico City GP was good new for both McLaren drivers according to Andrea Stella
Stella says the domination from Lando Norris is also good news for Oscar Piastri and hugely encouraging for the team.
With a single point separating the pair, it’s game on. Max Verstappen remains a title contender at 36 points back from the Brit. The Red Bull driver had beaten both McLarens in each race from Monza through to COTA.
While McLaren had a very fast car at every circuit during that period, although not necessarily the fastest at each round, both drivers underperformed at times, particularly the Aussie. Oscar Piastri’s recent mistakes and struggles have seen him lose 69 points to the four-time World Champion since his win at Zandvoort. He also has dropped 35 to Lando Norris in that time.
“And I think it will just strengthen Lando’s confidence and it will be important for the final four races. But I think both Lando and Oscar go into the final four races with reasons to be confident.
“And I think the team also goes into the final four races with more understanding of how to extract performance from the car consistently. Because over the last few races before Mexico, at times we have left some performance in the garage.
“The confidence in terms of the championship is increased. It’s increased because we have proven that we have a car that can win races and in some conditions can dominate races.
“This is the most important factor to put Lando and Oscar in condition to pursue the drivers’ championship. I don’t think it’s about mathematics. I think it’s about competitiveness, and it was important to confirm this competitiveness.
“And I think even when it comes to Oscar, even if he lost some points to Verstappen, I think Oscar has got a lot of learning from this weekend. And that’s sort of an investment that you make to make sure that you are competitive in every condition in the final part of the season.
“So overall, we definitely, team and drivers, we come out of this weekend encouraged and optimistic for the final part of the season.”
