Lando Norris’ recent problems in qualifying appear to be over after the British driver stormed to pole position for the Monaco GP.

Norris has recently been bested by McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in several qualifying sessions, with his last pole position coming at the season opener in Australia back in March.

Andrea Stella: Lando Norris’ step forward ‘very positive’

Norris has been open about his qualifying struggles in recent races, having failed to maximise the potential of his McLaren MCL39 in qualifying in Bahrain and Imola, as well as crashing in Saudi Arabia, while Max Verstappen pipped him to pole position in Miami.

After qualifying fourth at Imola, the British driver stated that he is aware that he has been failing to step up in Q3 at the crucial point in qualifying in the same way as his immediate rivals.

But there was no sign of this in Monaco, where Norris stormed to pole position with a stellar 1:09.954 right at the chequered flag, to pip home hero Charles Leclerc to the most critical pole of the year.

Having turned around his qualifying form, McLaren boss Andrea Stella said the diligent approach taken to the session paid off – and this methodical way of working will have reassured Norris as he’s returned to top form in qualifying.

“I think today is an important step in the process which is not only a process for Lando but is also a process for Oscar, because, in this kind of business, you always have to look forward and look as to how you can improve,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com, on Saturday night in Monaco.

“With Lando, we had a few bits of information that we could process and extract, in particular, some adaptations and care points that we needed to consider, especially as we were going through the qualifying session, which worked very well today.

“I think definitely this will somehow reassure Lando, but also his group of engineers and everyone who keeps supporting Lando, as Oscar, that the work that has been pulled off was working well, was allowing Lando to exploit his speed and his talent, but I have a sense that there is quite a lot more to be extracted.

“So I take very positively this step forward, but I am excited and I look forward to the steps further that we will be able to do in the future, and this one is with Lando and with Oscar.

“Because I’m sure Oscar will have said that there are a few things during qualifying that didn’t work like he wanted. It was hard times of the rhythm. So it’s tricky, it’s very difficult. It’s a very, very fast Formula 1, and very challenging for the drivers.”

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Andrea Stella: Lando Norris’ lap deserves congratulations even if not ‘the perfect lap’

Given the recent exploits of Max Verstappen in securing unlikely pole positions in a Red Bull RB21 that has not been the clear pace-setter throughout the first quarter of the season, Stella was asked whether he believes Norris’ pole lap for the Monaco Grand Prix is deserving of similar praise.

“Lando’s lap is a very competitive lap. Some of the corners are very big, [such as] the chicane after the tunnel, braking, traction – excellence,” he said, before matter-of-factly pointing out that there was still some time on the table to be found.

“But, actually, there are a couple of corners in which we left a little bit of time – like the second chicane of the swimming pool, Lando, I think, ended up using a little bit too much kerb. So a perfect lap…

“You know, I worked with Michael Schumacher. He said to me, ‘I’ve never made a perfect lap in qualifying’. And if Michael said that, I think we can believe that is quite difficult to put together.

“So it’s the best lap ever made in Monaco. But it’s not a perfect lap in itself. In terms of praising it, well, I leave this to you certainly!

“I congratulated Lando very much, because we had a plan, some points that we wanted to stick to during qualifying, and he did it.

“So it definitely deserved to be congratulated, not only for the outcome but also for the process.”

Norris himself stopped short of declaring his performance as a “breakthrough”, saying that, “I think to classify it as a breakthrough, you also need consistency of results. So I can look at it both ways. I can see, easily, the positive – it’s a breakthrough in that I had a good Saturday. And for me, that’s at least a step in the right direction, which I’m very, very happy about.

“But it’s still one weekend. And like I said, consistency is a big part of it too. I’ll be happier if I know and I can get to that point where I’m confident into every session that I can perform like I did today because I think my performance was at a very, very strong level. So if we go into Barcelona, Canada, and the next few tracks and I can consistently perform at this level, then that’s our goal.

“That’s my goal – I say ‘our goal’ because it’s me and my team. But certainly, today was a step in the right direction. And whether that’s a small step or a big step, it’s a step. And that’s all I need for now.”

But, having shown marked improvement in qualifying – the area in which he has been slightly weaker recently – Stella said the evidence of having produced the goods in Monaco shows that there is no reason to question Norris’ qualifying abilities.

“Lando has driven very, very well, very fast, very consistently, and, above all, he kept this speed, this consistency, throughout Q3 which, in some of the previous races, was where we tended to lose some of the rhythm,” he said.

“The merit is entirely Lando’s. And if anything, there was no more relevant testing ground than Monte Carlo to actually check your speed and consistency and even the capability of repeating your driving input so that you can put together laps.

“So really, hats off, and shout out to Lando.

“Like we always do with Oscar, not only with Lando, we tried, as a team and as a group, together with the driver, to use the information that we had accrued over some of the last events in terms of when we are not able to find the last tenth of a second exactly what is happening.

“I think the engineers have done a very good job of identifying these opportunities because I’ve said a couple of times already that we do have to do some work from an engineering point of view to improve the feelings that come from the car onto the driver but, for the moment, that’s what we have. So we needed to adapt.

“The engineers have done a very good job of identifying what we should have adapted on, and Lando did a phenomenal job in just doing it. They have worked very well together, even in terms of communication between the sessions, during the session, while Lando was on track, in terms of keeping the driver on to these opportunities to capitalise on his natural speed.”

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