McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andrea Stella thinks Lando Norris overcoming his early 2025 slump to win the championship turned him into a "much more confident" driver, as the reigning world champion got off to a strong start in 2026.
Last year, Norris freely admitted that at times he lacked the ultimate self-belief, with him clinching his maiden world championship at last year's Abu Dhabi season finale - the ultimate proof he needed to show that he has what it takes to compete at the very top.
That confidence boost appears to have carried over to 2026. Norris has had the measure of team-mate Oscar Piastri so far, a reversal of the first half of 2025. McLaren's upgraded MCL40 put him in the position to display as much at last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, with Norris winning the Hungaroring race from pole.
"I feel like I'm doing a better job this year than I was last year," Norris said after his Budapest triumph, the first for McLaren in 2026 as it chases down Mercedes. “I have done for a little while. It just doesn't mean you win the races, so today when we had a car, I proved exactly that.
“I could go out and win very convincingly and be on pole in a good car. So, I'm doing a better job and that's because of just working [on] many different areas. Some away from the track, with my team and some here at the track as well. A lot of small differences add up, and you see the result today.”
Team principal Stella said he had also noticed an upwards trajectory in Norris' performances, and believes the key to his form is the way the Briton responded to his 2025 struggles, when he had to dig deep both technically and mentally to adapt his driving style to the previous-generation McLaren.
"I've been quite impressed by Lando following the way he has reacted to the first third of the season last year," Stella said. "There were highs and lows, there were some difficulties, there were clear learning points to review and learn from, and he embraced the challenge. He worked himself, the first person, the group of engineers around him, all the entourage, it was great work of development from a personal and a driving point of view.
"What we see here is just the continuation of this trajectory, Lando is much more confident, I think he's much more aware of his tools that he has in his driving and how to deploy these tools."
Stella reckons Piastri is now going through a similar process as he is trying to gel with the 2026 car. Piastri last defeated Norris in qualifying at early June's Monaco Grand Prix, with the reigning world champion leading their internal battle 11-4, including sprint qualifying.
"We have seen a great trajectory of development for Lando, and this is honestly the same with Oscar as well," the Italian added. "Oscar is still getting in tune with these low-grip 2026 cars, and there's an opportunity there to find some pace. There's great work happening between Oscar, his engineering team and his wider team, so I think we will see a very strong Oscar for the second part of the season."
