Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Lando Norris hails title-chasing McLaren’s ‘incredible story’
Norris joined McLaren after a period of lagging in the 2010s, while Stella was appointed team principal at the end of 2022 when their forward momentum over the previous three seasons stalled.
Norris said: “We made progress but we didn’t make any progress and we didn’t continue to grow and it was difficult to break the barrier of getting close to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull because for a long time they dominated F1.
“Not only did we break that barrier, we got to the top and became the best team and hopefully keep winning.
“I don’t think outsiders give it enough credit because it’s not an easy sport.
“We want to overtake Ferrari, who have turned the corner, to catch Red Bull and Max (Verstappen), who dominated every race a year ago, and to make this happen so quickly we can only give to the whole team pay tribute.”
Norris said he was most pleased that he was confident of staying at McLaren because he believed that when he was given the opportunity to go to other teams, they would be the front-runners.
He didn’t say it, but Red Bull had offered him the chance to drive before.
“I really love it and enjoy it and I’m most proud and happy that I’m still here because I’ve believed in this team for so many years,” Norris said.
“In the early stages of my career I had the opportunity not to race in Papaya and maybe move on and win races, but I believed and I wanted to do that with McLaren and they gave me the opportunity to go to F1.
“We’re hoping for next year. We didn’t think it was possible this year and actually we did it this year and I’m proud to be on this journey and I’ll be so happy when it’s over that I hope it happens.”
