McLaren defend 'self-critical' Norris after 'clueless' performance

McLaren must "look in the mirror" to see how it can better support Lando Norris after his "clueless" performance in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying, believes team principal Andrea Stella.

Championship leader Norris will start only sixth in Sakhir after a poor final Q3 lap, following which he described himself as "clueless" in a damning self-reflection. In contrast, team-mate Oscar Piastri roared to pole position.

Norris is known to be a driver who is particularly vocal about his failures to perform on track, with his comments post-qualifying an extreme example. 

However, McLaren team principal Stella believes Norris' open approach is "transparent" as he called on the team to help unlock the "incredible talent" of the Briton on a more consistent basis, especially in Q3. 

"Lando is often quite self-critical and is transparent in a way which is a stylistic aspect," Stella told media including RacingNews365. 

"There are, I am sure, drivers who are equally self-critical, but they keep it for themselves and put a little bit of a screen between them and the rest of the world.

"Lando doesn't have this characteristic. He is naturally very honest and, therefore, it becomes visible when he is disappointed or when he is self-questioning. 

"He is a very fast driver, with incredible race-craft, and although he has been struggling to put together laps during Q3, he has shown his speed. 

"In Q1 and in FP1, he pretty much dominated the session and I think before here, pretty much every Q2 session, he was the fastest. So it is more a phase of when it gets to Q3, putting the lap together and that hasn't worked out well recently.

"My approach is to first of all, look in the mirror, the team should look in the mirror and say, 'What should we do better to make Lando more comfortable and put him in a position to use his incredible talent?'

"When you have to deal with drivers and team members, conversations and dialogue, it is always the most powerful tool, and the one on which we lean constantly."

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How McLaren can support 'clueless' Norris

Stella also added that some minor adaptions were needed by McLaren to aid in the process for Norris, with the crunch points of Q3 something to work on

"It is a short phase," he added. "We are talking about the driver who has led the journey of McLaren to the front, together with Oscar, delivered us the world championship after 26 years, and it is just a temporary phase whilst pushing the car to the limit.

"There are a few things that don't go as he expects and when you try to find that extra tenth of a second in Q3, it becomes more visible.

"We understand it will require a bit of adaption from Lando and from the team. We are very optimistic that this will be resolved, but we always share the blame."