Lando Norris explains what McLaren boss Andrea Stella does to give him ‘a little extra motivation’

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Lando Norris is closing in on Max Verstappen in the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, having now moved to within 60 points after finishing ahead of the Red Bull driver in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Norris fought back in the closing stages of the race after a late pit stop in his McLaren to help cope with the excessive tyre wear, while Max Verstappen battled with setup problems in his Red Bull.

The McLaren driver was initially racing for sixth with the Dutchman, but it turned into fourth after a penultimate-lap crash for Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez.

It was an impressive display after Norris recovered from 15th on the grid after he was caught out by a late yellow flag in qualifying on Saturday during his final run in Q1.

As Norris chased down Verstappen, his engineer, Will Joseph, could be heard over the team radio saying: “Imagine Andrea on your shoulder saying “zero wheelspin every exit.” When asked about the message post-race on Sky Sports Germany, Norris said it was a form of motivation from his team principal.

Lando Norris explains how Andrea Stella motivates him

Andrea Stella has been noted for his ability to listen to driver feedback before, with former driver Luciano Burti explaining why he was such an important figure when he was at Ferrari.

Similarly, Norris believes Stella is very good at understanding their problems in the car and wanting to solve them to extract more performance.

“Andrea just loves to understand as a team boss how we drive the car. He wants to know how we drive and what we’re having problems with. He’s a racing driver at heart,” said Norris.

“I know that he looks at my data and tells me what I could have done better. He just wants perfection and he wants everything to work well. He trusts me and I appreciate that. It was a little extra motivation.”

Damon Hill has also praised Stella for his ‘perfect’ work behind the scenes, while McLaren CEO Zak Brown said his leadership qualities have been key to their season turnaround.

McLaren faces Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri problem next season

The dynamic between Piastri and Norris is being watched closely in the F1 paddock after McLaren said it would back the Briton in trying to win this years title.

With the potential of having a championship-winning car next year, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley has warned it could become difficult for Norris and Piastri to be friends next year.

During the Italian GP, the team enacted ‘papaya rules’ between the pair after a forceful move from Piastri to take the lead in the opening corners of the race.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration

Piastri has since been told that he cannot overtake Norris as aggressively at the start anymore and must support Norris in the race, although the Australian later admitted that he would not be willing to give up a race win.

Norris was doing most of the support work in Azerbaijan, as he was key in holding up Perez after the first pit stops and enabling Piastri to stay ahead to challenge for the lead.