Is McLaren yet to unlock Norris’s full F1 potential?

Off the back of his most successful season in F1, Norris has strengthened his status as the Woking-based squad’s lead driver, having scored more than twice as many points as rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri and achieved seven podium finishes – more than in his first four campaigns combined.

Yet, a feeling of unfinished business still predominates for team principal Andrea Stella, who feels the best is yet to come.

Albeit scoring points consistently, Norris alternated podiums with lower-key results and made a few costly mistakes: clipping the wall in Q1 at the Saudi Arabian GP, colliding at the start at Barcelona and crashing out of the inaugural Las Vegas GP.

Asked where Norris’s mistakes came from, Stella said: “I don’t think there is a single element that one should identify on the track. I think that when you deal with champions, when you deal with delivering at such a high level in professional sport, you need to look at opportunities very holistically.

“And I think that things are also quite connected – like the physical state is connected with the mental state, which is connected with the well-being overall and the integration within the team. All these battles are very strong on Lando’s side.

“It is just that the game is so competitive that you need to be at the top consistently. That’s what makes the difference. It’s not really the top potential. Especially for Lando, this is almost unexplored as to how good he is.   

“Sometimes he surprises us with some of the performances he can put together. Think about the pole position in the sprint in Brazil after he had lost two, three tenths in the first sector. How did he manage to put it on pole in the other five corners? That was just amazing.  

“But consistency in this kind of delivery is what makes the difference. And I think that Max [Verstappen] is really establishing new standards in terms of how consistently you can perform strongly.”

It’s not really the top potential. Especially for Lando, this is almost unexplored as to how good he is.

Andrea Stella 

Max Verstappen achieved a remarkable 21 podium finishes in 22 races last year, surpassing his own unprecedented 18 top-three finishes in 2021.

Meanwhile, Norris holds the unwanted records of most podiums (13) and points scored (633) without any victories, the former shared with Nick Heidfeld.