Lando Norris' F1 boss explains McLaren's shortcomings in Italian GP

Lando Norris' McLaren boss, Andrea Stella, has revealed why his team fell short at the 2025 Italian Grand Prix. Norris and Oscar Piastri managed a second and third-place finish behind the reigning world champion, Max Verstappen.

The MCL39 proved good enough for only a second-place finish in the Italian GP qualifying session. Max Verstappen's final Q3 time was an impressive 1:18.792 in the RB21, whereas Lando Norris managed 1:18.869. In the main 53-lap Grand Prix, the Dutchman led comfortably from the front and won by a margin of over 19 seconds.

In line with how difficult the overall outing panned out for the papaya-colored team at a high-speed track like Monza, its team principal, Andrea Stella, talked about it during the race weekend and added the following:

"Generally speaking, I would say that our car, due to its design, achieves its best efficiency with a steep rear wing. The corners become a bit longer in the race because you brake earlier and accelerate later. This increases the amount of grip-limited area, which naturally makes our car more competitive. Even here, we're the fastest in almost every corner, but there aren't that many here. So there are only a few corners, and they're also relatively short."

"We have seen not only this weekend, but also in previous races, that Red Bull is able to maintain a fairly high aerodynamic efficiency of its car when the angle of attack of the rear wing is reduced. I think they have the best car at this level of downforce." Via Motorsport-total.

Despite losing out at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza racing circuit, McLaren is still way ahead in the Constructors' Championship. The team is sitting in P1 with 617 points in comparison to second-placed Ferrari's 280.

In the drivers' bout as well, both Norris and Piastri are ahead of the chasing pack.

Lando Norris' take on 'fighting for a championship'

Lando Norris has been in an intense fight with his teammate Oscar Piastri for the 2025 drivers' championship for some time. The latter has so far managed seven wins in comparison to Norris' five.

The prolific duo has come in close proximity to each other several times during Grand Prix events, and in line with fighting for the championship, Norris recently added the following:

"But for the win? Then you would risk more. It also depends who you’re racing. That’s a really important factor. That’s part of being a racing driver: you’ve got to understand who you can take risks with, who you can’t, and when to take those risks. I think that’s a general thing, but it’s also something I think you have to understand a little bit more when you are fighting for a championship." Via: Motorsportweek.

After the first 16 races of the 2025 F1 season, Lando Norris is in second place in the drivers' championship with 293 points. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, is sitting in P1, having amassed 324.

With only eight Grand Prix events remaining on the race calendar, it is going to be fascinating to see how Norris and Piastri will approach things while fighting on the race track.