McLaren point to Lando Norris 'trajectory' after Oscar Piastri headache

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has hailed the “trajectory” of Lando Norris, insisting his calm nature at the Hungarian Grand Prix demonstrated how much he has grown.

Norris entered the year as the reigning champion but faced a challenging opening phase as McLaren could not carry over its race-winning form.

However, it took to the top step of the podium for the first time this year at the Hungaroring as Norris prevailed over the rest of the pack.

Stella reflected on the Briton's title-winning year and asserted there were many lessons for him to take in that period.

“I've been quite impressed by Lando, following the way he has reacted to the first third of the season last year,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.

“There were highs and lows, there were some difficulties, there were clear learning points to review and learn from, and he embraced the challenge of doing so. 

“He worked [on] himself first [as a] person. The group of engineers around him, all the entourage - there was great work of development from a personal and a driving point of view.”

During the race at the Hungaroring, Norris was stuck behind team-mate Oscar Piastri for the opening segment of the race.

While Norris clearly possessed more speed, he was praised by Stella for how he handled the frustration of not being able to move ahead.

“What we see here is just the continuation of this trajectory,” he said. “Lando is much more confident.

“He's much more aware of the tools that he has in his driving, how to deploy these tools, and he's also more in control of his emotions. 

“[In Hungary], when he was behind Oscar he said a couple of times that he had pace in hand, but he didn't get overly frustrated.

“The fact that he wasn't overly frustrated then allowed him to use the pace at the right time and led him to the victory. 

“We have seen a great trajectory of development for Lando.”