McLaren explains Lando Norris' qualifying breakthrough after F1 Monaco GP pole

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella believes Lando Norris has made an important step gelling with his car after taking pole for Formula 1's Monaco Grand Prix.

On the technical street circuit Norris beat Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to pole by one tenth, with team-mate Oscar Piastri 0.175s behind. It was the Briton's second pole of the 2025 season and his first since he won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with Piastri since stealing his thunder with four wins as Norris struggled to get the most out of McLaren's MCL39 in qualifying trim.

Norris openly admitted he and the McLaren weren't gelling as he found it tough to predict how the car would react to his inputs, which prompted some soul-searching at the papaya squad to ensure its driver could use the full potential of what has been the best car of the field.

According to team principal Stella, Norris' pole in Monaco has been an important step in that process, rewarding the work he has put in behind the scenes at the Woking-based factory.

"I think it's an important step in the process, which is not only a process for Lando but also a process for Oscar," the Italian explained. "With Lando, we had a few bits of information that we could process and extract some adaptations that we needed to consider, which worked very well today.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Andrea Stella, McLaren

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

"I think definitely it will reassure Lando and his group of engineers that the work that has been pulled off was allowing Lando to exploit his speed and his talent."

One symptom of Norris' qualifying struggles was his inability to find those extra few tenths in Q3 when it really mattered, which Stella indicated as the best marker that the team's set-up progress has been genuine.

"Above all, he kept this speed and consistency throughout Q3, which in some of the previous races was where we tended to lose some of the rhythm, let's say," he explained. "So, 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 your consistency, and even the capability of repeating your driving input so that you can put together laps.

"We tried 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 one-tenth of a second. And I think the engineers have done a very good job identifying what we should have adapted and Lando did a phenomenal job just doing it."

But Stella vowed there was more to come from McLaren to make its car more predictable on the limit, with Piastri also suffering from similar limitations on the front axle of the car, even if to a lesser degree. Piastri's pole shot came undone with a messy passage through Monaco's Nouvelle Chicane.

"I have a sense that there is quite a lot more to be extracted," Stella added. "I am looking forward to the steps further that we will be able to do in the future with both Lando and Oscar, because I'm sure Oscar will have said that there's a few things during qualifying that didn't work like he wanted, and he was at times off the rhythm. It's very difficult. These are very, very fast Formula 1 cars and very challenging for the drivers."