Stella: Piastri-Norris Relationship 'Even Stronger' After Title Fight

Last season, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris fought tooth and nail for the Formula 1 world championship until the final race. Norris eventually emerged as champion, leaving Piastri on the losing side. But instead of creating distance, the experience has actually brought them closer together within McLaren.

Andrea Stella, McLaren's team principal, expressed his admiration for how Piastri responded to the defeat. According to Stella, Piastri's performance and attitude off the track show remarkable growth. "Their relationship with the team has actually become even stronger," he said in a Q&A on McLaren's official website.

Stella added that Piastri's response was unexpected, given he was the one who lost. "It might have been expected of Lando, since he became champion, but not quite for Oscar. Instead, he has relied even more heavily on the team to accelerate his development, both on and off the track," Stella explained.

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This cohesion is being tested amid a difficult start to the 2026 season for McLaren. The Woking-based squad has yet to replicate the form that delivered three of four world championships in 2024-2025. Stella described the beginning of the new regulatory era as a "reset" for the team, which also paid a price for pushing hard last season.

Both Piastri and Norris have had to adapt to sweeping technical changes, especially in extracting performance from the new generation of power units. "The impact of the new regulations has been nothing short of disruptive. They need to adapt their driving style and gain a deeper understanding of the power units," said Stella. The learning process was initially slowed by reliability issues.

However, the hard work is starting to pay off. Norris's victory in Hungary is the clearest sign of progress with the MCL40. Stella identified the new aero package at the Hungaroring as a product of a revised development direction. The result has also given McLaren confidence heading into the second half of the season.