McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella reveals key 'point of strength’ for 2024 title challengers

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F1 team boss reveals key 'point of strength’ for title challengers

The team are hoping to be serious contenders in 2024

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 25 January 2024 10:57 Updated: 14:50

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has said that his two superbly talented young drivers 'compliment' each other's driving characteristics throughout race weekends.

The partnership between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri began at the start of 2023, after McLaren had decided to replace veteran Daniel Ricciardo with the 22-year-old Piastri.

The Australian went on to claim two podiums and be named Rookie of the Year, as well as becoming one of only two non-Red Bull drivers to win a race of any kind throughout the year.

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Norris, on the other hand, once again proved why he is one of the most sought-after talents on the grid, claiming seven podiums and finishing in sixth in the drivers' championship, 108 points ahead of Piastri.

McLaren head into the upcoming season looking to build on their incredible turnaround during the 2023 season, and cement themselves as world championship challengers.

McLaren head into the new season off the back of a brilliant 2023 campaign

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris formed a fantastic partnership in 2023

Oscar Piastri claimed the 2023 Rookie of the Year award

Norris looking for first race win

Norris and Piastri are still both yet to win a race in their Formula 1 careers, with Norris heading into his sixth season in the sport desperately trying to change that.

“The relationship between Lando and Oscar is a point of strength of our team,” Stella told Autosport.

“I have to say that being Lando’s team-mate is enjoyable, because we have seen this kind of relationship already with Carlos [Sainz], with Daniel. Therefore, I would like to acknowledge how much Lando creates the condition for establishing a fruitful kind of relationship that supports the team, supports the growth of both drivers.

"And then we’ve got Oscar. He came with a similar characteristic. With the natural process of knowing each other gradually, we can see that now this has created a very functional collaboration between the two drivers.

“I always acknowledged last year that also how much the two have, to some extent, complimented the characteristics from a driving and technical point of view,” he continued.

“Which means that already from FP1, looking at each other’s overlays, they could think ‘I could do better here because I know here Oscar can still be good’, and Oscar may say the opposite in looking at Lando’s data. I think this contributed to picking up over the weekends.

“We really look forward to taking one more step even in the relation to the way that the drivers collaborate with each other, and the way the drivers collaborate with their teams.”

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen McLaren Lando Norris Daniel Ricciardo