Norris two major improvements identified since becoming world champion

Lando Norris has unlocked two key areas of improvement over the past 18 months, believes McLaren boss Andrea Stella.

Norris’ rise to become F1 World Champion in 2025 has seen the British driver reach a new level of confidence, with his title defence picking up steam off the back of consecutive wins in Budapest and Zandvoort.

Lando Norris’ confidence and assertiveness have improved since becoming world champion

While the chances of a second consecutive title remain slim, given his 83-point deficit to championship leader Kimi Antonelli, Norris has produced two eye-catching races in a row as he has been a clear step ahead of his rivals.

In Budapest, McLaren‘s pace advantage over Mercedes saw Norris utilise his own speed to clear Oscar Piastri in the lead before streaking away at the front, while at Zandvoort, Norris’ relentless stalking of Antonelli was rewarded when he created a seven-lap tyre delta before hunting down the Italian and overtaking him.

With Norris speaking frankly about his own strong run of form, it’s a markedly different attitude in a display of confidence that is rare from a driver who has been historically open about his own self-doubts.

But his victory in last year’s title fight has seen Norris unlock a different level of ability, according to team boss Andrea Stella, who praised how continuous improvement has become Norris’ modus operandi over the years.

“I think Lando is driving and operating at a very high level, in the absolute sense in relation to Formula 1,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com, after the Dutch Grand Prix victory.

“I think he’s driving at the level of a world champion. Like I always say about Lando, what I like the most about his journey in Formula 1 is that he keeps improving.

“Especially after the start of the 2025 season, something clicked, which is not only a single click, but is a way of working with Lando for Lando, and that we are also adopting on Oscar’s side now, in particular.

“This approach has led Lando to continuous improvements. It’s almost like I see him getting stronger and stronger race by race, because I think this weekend was nowhere near a weekend in which we could fight for the victory for granted, especially after having seen the performance in the sprint.

“But we invested in trying to understand where the opportunity was from a tyre exploitation point of view and car improvement, and, actually, I think both drivers improved from this point of view, but unfortunately, a question mark remains as to the behaviour of the second stint of Oscar.

“So I think there’s overall a positive trajectory for both, but, at the moment, Lando is capable of maximising the performance in qualifying trim.

“If we think back to the start of 2025, this had become a bit of a concern that he overcame. When you have conditions in which the car slides in the race, there’s not much grip, he is the master in these kinds of conditions.”

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With Norris having smoothened out his consistency and reduced the frequency of mistakes, particularly in qualifying, Stella said there are two areas in which Norris has made clear improvements; neither of which are directly related to his skillset.

With Norris being as straightforward about his own self-belief as he was when experiencing self-doubts, the reigning World Champion said he believed he was driving at a high level when he caught and passed Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship last year, but also has found ways to improve further this year by way of his increased experience.

“I do believe I’m able to understand situations better, to understand the car in a better way,” he said.

“It’s still just horrible to drive, but I’m doing a better job at just understanding this, relaying this to my team, figuring stuff out. So, it’s not just I’m driving better on track.

“I’m certainly eliminating my weaknesses on track, and I don’t have so many, but it’s also how I work off the track.

“And for me, yesterday [Saturday qualifying] to today is a perfect example of the work we put in overnight transformed our race and gave me the opportunity to win. So, the work we put in away from the track is certainly a huge part of that.”

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