Ted Kravitz praises team principal who helped 24-year-old overcome his ‘qualifying wobbles’

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Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz has praised McLaren team principal Andrea Stella for helping star driver Lando Norris overcome his qualifying issues last season.

Lando Norris was arguably the fastest driver on the grid in the second half of the season behind Max Verstappen.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Ted Kravitz was lauding the Italian team boss.

The pressure was on Andrea Stella when he was promoted to team principal of McLaren at the end of 2022.

The team arrived in Bahrain and were arguably the slowest car on the grid, with debutant Oscar Piastri suffering due to the car’s poor reliability.

Fast forward 12 months and the 52-year-old has overseen one of the biggest turnarounds in Formula 1 history.

Lando Norris benefitted from an upgrade package in Austria and never looked back, with Piastri benefitting from the same boost at Silverstone.

Kravitz has given Stella credit for helping Lando Norris overcome some issues in qualifying that saw him playing catch-up on several occasions when he should have been starting from the front of the grid.

Even at the final race of the season, Norris should have been challenging Verstappen and Charles Leclerc for pole position.

Instead, he started in fifth, but in other races, his struggles on a Saturday did lead to some of the best drives of the year.

Kravitz praises Stella for impact on Norris qualifying

Speaking about the Italian team boss, Kravitz said: “The other thing I should say is [Andrea] Stella has been very good with his drivers.

“In Lando’s [Norris] qualifying wobbles and Oscar’s [Piastri] first full season, Stella has been great with his drivers and I think that’s important as well.”

There’s so much excitement around Lando Norris right now, with David Coulthard describing him as ‘the real deal’.

All he needs to do is add that maiden race win to his accolades but that has to come sooner rather than later.

Given the difference in pace between Red Bull and the rest of the field, Norris will need to hook up the perfect weekend to stand on the top step of the podium.

That includes delivering the perfect qualifying session, and as Kravitz suggests, it looks like Stella is helping Norris deliver on his exceptional pace throughout the Grand Prix.