Stella reveals why Norris was much quicker than Verstappen in Austria

20:11, 28 Jun

bySandy van Wijngaarden

Lando Norris managed to secure the pole position in an exceptionally dominant manner in Austria. After the session, Andrea Stella, McLaren's team principal, explained why this was and revealed an important detail for the rest of the season.

Andrea Stella was very pleased with McLaren's performance so far in Austria after qualifying. “First and foremost, it was very reassuring and encouraging to see Lando set such a strong lap time and to see that the two McLarens were quite competitive in virtually every session this weekend,” the team principal told among others GPblog.

The Italian then went on to analyze the situation more deeply. “I think a combination of factors has contributed to the car performing so well, at least for one lap and with new tires. I think it has to do with the characteristics of the circuit. There are a few corners here where we could see from the GPS-overlay that our car could generate a lot of speed. I believe this is due to where our car has been optimized, from a development standpoint.”

However, the team principal stated that Lando Norris is always at his best in Spielberg. “Lando is definitely a specialist in Austria. We have seen this before.”

McLaren updates prove to be fantastic in Austria

The brought-updates were the biggest contributors to Norris's strong performance. “But there is a third factor, which I want to emphasize the most, and that is the fact that we have delivered a number of upgrades here.”

Stella also revealed that more updates are on the way. “This is the first part of a series of upgrades that we will also bring in one of the upcoming races to complete the upgrade package.”

Andrea Stella in Austria

“This upgrade is the result of a lot of work,” continued the team principal with praise. “It was not easy to find improvements for what was already a competitive package, with the MCL39. And I want to express my praise for the work of the aerodynamic group to ultimately finalize geometries that seem to have worked well and improved the car's performance.”

“And overall the whole team, the men and women at McLaren, who have worked hard to deliver these upgrades on the track. So several factors, but this is only with new tires, little fuel, in the qualification, so we'll see it tomorrow in the race,” said Stella.