In 2021, in Sochi, a city in Russia, a British driver named Norris was leading a Formula 1 race. It looked like it would be his first win. He started at the front of the grid after getting his first pole position. But then, it started raining heavily near the end of the race. Instead of changing to tires better for the rain, Norris stayed out on tires that were better for dry conditions. This was a big mistake. He lost the lead and didn’t win the race.
Norris remembers this mistake very clearly. It still bothers him a lot. People even tease him about it on social media. But Norris says he uses these jokes to motivate himself.
After the Miami Grand Prix, Norris’s engineer, Joseph, talked about this. He said, “The loss in Russia has been bothering us for a long time, especially me. It’s good to finally win. I think we can move past that now.”
The head of the McLaren team, Andrea Stella, believes that Norris’s lack of wins wasn’t because of Norris himself. He thinks it was because the team didn’t give him a good enough car to win. Stella says that when they finally gave Norris a better car, he showed he could win.
Stella also talked about the race in Russia. He said it was a turning point for Norris and the team. They learned they need to work better together, especially when making important decisions during a race.
Even though Norris won in Miami, Stella still respects Red Bull, another team in Formula 1. Red Bull has been very successful recently. Stella says McLaren is just starting its journey and hopes they’ll have more wins in the future.
