McLaren question Lando Norris racecraft: 'Could have been more patient'

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes Lando Norris could have benefited from being more patient in his battle against Max Verstappen at the Miami Grand Prix.

Norris attacked Verstappen into the first corner for the lead of the race, resulting in the pair running side by side through Turn 2.

However, Norris was forced into the run-off area as Verstappen defended his lead, resulting in Norris dropping to sixth place.

Verstappen would soon lose the lead to Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri before Norris himself put Verstappen in his mirrors on lap 18 as McLaren went on to dominate en route to a 1-2 finish.

With the Woking-based squad having so much pace in hand, Stella highlighted Norris could have been more reserved on the opening lap.

"With the benefit of hindsight, let's say that considering the situation in corner one-two, it could have been better for Lando to just lift and make sure that he could keep the second position,” Stella told media including RacingNews365.

“The car, again, with the benefit of hindsight, we see that he was very fast and he would certainly have passed Max, like Oscar, and then later Lando was in condition to do.

“Like every situation in racing, you have to approach with the mindset of reviewing where the opportunities lie. And I think in this case, Lando could have been a little bit more patient.”

Andrea Stella 'likes' to see aggressive Lando Norris

Norris ended the race in second place behind Piastri, with the latter taking his fourth win in six races to extend his championship lead.

Norris closed in on Piastri in the final stint but didn’t have enough laps to place his team-mate under significant threat.

While the Turn 1 incident ultimately ended Norris’ chance of victory, Stella voiced his admiration for the 25-year-old’s competitive spirit.

"But I quite like to see Lando aggressive, going for the lead of the race and sometimes it's just the matter of a fraction of a second,” he said.

“In this situation the stewards elected that there was no need to intervene but definitely the manoeuvre was quite at the limit.”