McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Formula One title rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have every reason to be confident heading into the season’s final four races, with neither expected to hold a clear track advantage.
Norris reclaimed the championship lead by a single point over his Australian teammate after Sunday’s race in Mexico, but Stella told reporters the battle remains wide open with Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi still to come.
The title fight will also be shaped by two sprint weekends in Sao Paulo and Doha, adding extra pressure and points to the closing stretch.
"I think both Lando and Oscar go into the final four races with reasons to be confident,” the Italian said.
"The team also goes into the final four races with more understanding of how to extract performance from the car consistently, because over the last four races before Mexico at times we have left some performance in the garage.
"In the final four races, there’s no reason to think that one track may favor one driver over the other.”
Dominant victory from pole position
Piastri has been beaten by Norris in the last five races, and the Briton’s dominant victory from pole position in Mexico City on Sunday erased the 24-year-old’s 14-point advantage. Norris has said he does not believe in momentum, however, and Piastri sounded more optimistic about his situation after racing from seventh on the grid to fifth at the checkered flag on Sunday.
He said he had adapted his driving style to Mexico’s low-grip circuit – conditions Norris thrives on, whereas Piastri prefers high grip – and found far more pace than in practice and qualifying.
He might have grabbed fourth from Haas’ Oliver Bearman but for a late virtual safety car.
"For Lando and Oscar, there’s no problem in terms of track layout coming in the next four races,” Stella said.
"If anything, we need to make sure that from a McLaren point of view we are in a condition to extract the full performance that is available in the car.”
Stella noted that Las Vegas had been difficult for McLaren last season, but this year could be different, with the tires graining less.
Norris’ win was his first since Hungary in August and McLaren’s first since the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of that month – ending a run of four races without a victory for the champions.
Stella said Mexico had been a confidence boost for McLaren, even if Red Bull’s resurgent four-time champion Max Verstappen, third on Sunday, cut his gap to the top from 40 points to 36.
"We have proven that we have a car that can win races and, in some conditions, can dominate races,” he added.
"This is the most important factor to put Lando and Oscar in position to pursue the drivers’ championship. I don’t think it’s about mathematics; it’s about competitiveness. And it was important to confirm this competitiveness.”
McLaren has ruled out giving Piastri a new chassis, something drivers often request when experiencing an unexplained drop in performance.
"Every piece of evidence, every bit of data, every indirect measurement or information we have tells us that there is no problem with the car,” Stella told reporters after Saturday’s qualifying.
"In reality, there’s a rotation of parts, so it’s not like there are always the same components on the car. We have reason to be reassured that there’s no problem with the car.”