Stella insists Drivers' Championship is still 'in our hands' and that Norris 'had the pace to win' in Austin

Andrea Stella was defiant in the wake of the United States Grand Prix, maintaining that the outcome of the Drivers’ Championship in 2025 remains in McLaren’s hands despite Max Verstappen’s resurgence in form.

The Dutchman has won three out of the last four Grands Prix, as well as the Sprint in Austin, to slash Oscar Piastri’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Piastri remains 40 points clear of Verstappen, with Lando Norris 14 points behind his team mate in second.

Norris was the stronger of the two McLaren drivers at the Circuit of The Americas, finishing second behind Verstappen in a hard fought race that saw him have to overtake Charles Leclerc twice on track for position.

And Stella believed that had Norris not slipped behind Leclerc at the start and been held up by the Ferrari, McLaren did indeed have the pace to win in Austin.

“Today is a relatively reassuring race because I think without having to fight with Charles, which was certainly an entertaining fight itself, I think Lando had the pace to win the race today,” said Stella.

“Obviously, he needed to gain the position on track, which is never easy with Max, and with a one-stop strategy, not necessarily we would have had many opportunities from a strategic point of view, but performance-wise, I think we are reassured that the pace was sufficient to fight for the victory.”

Norris last won in Hungary before the summer break, while Piastri was victorious in Zandvoort at the end of August, and while McLaren have already secured the Constructors’ title, the Drivers’ title remains up for grabs.

But Stella was keen to praise the performance of Norris, who lost out to a soft-shod Leclerc at the start but managed his own tyres well and pulled off two on-track overtakes to pick off the Ferrari.

He might not have taken the win, but Norris keeps chipping away at Piastri’s advantage and had it not been for his mechanical DNF in Zandvoort, Norris would now be leading the Championship.

“Today is one of Lando's races," Stella continued. "He's very good when there's high degradation, he's good when you have to run long stints, he's good when there's not much grip, it's hot.

“I think he kept a level head… I think we have seen Lando's performance at its finest. If anything, we need to just check whether there was an opportunity in corner one to retain the position which would have unfolded a completely different race if we were following Max rather than Charles.”

Whether McLaren could have challenged Verstappen for the win will forever be an unknown, but Stella knows full well what sort of fight his team have now to try and wrestle the momentum back from Red Bull.

But with both drivers still in first and second in the Championship, he is not panicking yet.

“I said very clearly in capital letters that Max was in the contest for the Drivers' Championship, and when I say something, I mean it," Stella added. "For me, there's no mystery. We know that when Max has the material to win, he becomes a very serious candidate to win. So, it doesn't change what our understanding of the situation is, it doesn't change what we do.

“We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep executing good weekends… The outcome of this season and the Drivers' Championship is in our hands, it's not in someone else's hands. That's the mindset that we want to have and that's the mindset that we will have.”