Andrea Stella boldly equates Lando Norris’s Mexican GP feat to Fernando Alonso’s 2012 Valencia masterpiece

Fernando Alonso achieved a remarkable victory from the 11th grid position at the 2012 Valencia race, in front of his adoring Spanish fans.

Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (Via IMAGO)

Lando Norris delivered one of the standout performances of his career during the Mexican GP, where he impressively surged from the 17th grid position to secure a remarkable fifth-place finish, trailing Carlos Sainz by just a little over 5 seconds. Drawing a striking parallel, McLaren team chief Andrea Stella, who once served as Fernando Alonso‘s engineer at Ferrari, likened Norris’s achievement to Alonso’s memorable victory in the 2012 European GP.

Unfortunately, Norris faced a challenging Saturday, unable to secure a clean lap in qualifying, resulting in him being relegated to the 20th spot on the leaderboard. Grid penalties for Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri, Williams’ Logan Sargeant, and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin elevated Norris to the 17th starting position.

In a post-race conversation with Motorsport.com, Stella, who served as a race engineer for Fernando Alonso during his tenure with the Prancing Horses. Compared Lando’s performance and Alonso’s exceptional victory at the 2012 European GP. He said:

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This race made me think of Valencia 2012. At the time we started 11th and then we won the race.

Lando encountered a challenging race with an ill-timed red flag and a chaotic restart. Despite these setbacks, he showcased remarkable skills by steadily overtaking competitors and maintaining a pace comparable to Lewis Hamilton, ultimately securing a commendable fifth-place finish. In 2012, Alonso delivered a legendary performance in a Ferrari that was nowhere near being a race-winning car. Starting from 11th position, he executed breathtaking overtakes to claim second place and emerged victorious after Sebastian Vettel’s DNF.

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During the race on the pit wall, Stella and Norris’s race engineer, Will Joseph, discussed Norris’s exceptional performance. Joseph praised, saying this was among Lando’s finest drives. To which Stella responded, claiming this is one of the all-time greats. The Mexico race featured numerous thrilling overtakes on a track typically considered difficult to pass, leaving Stella deeply impressed.

Andrea Stella and Lando Norris (Credits: PlanetF1)

Despite the elation of Norris’s “masterpiece” race, McLaren was contemplating what could have been had they secured a better qualifying position. Stella conveyed a mix of excitement and frustration. The McLaren was easily a podium contender, and with a better qualifying performance, they could have challenged the Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton ahead.

We were in a position to be the second best car, possibly shared with [Lewis] Hamilton.

Lando Norris said putting rivals in "awkward" positions was key to pulling off the spate of overtaking moves that helped him charge to fifth in #F1's Mexico GP ⬇️https://t.co/sIxY31LIZL
— Autosport (@autosport) October 29, 2023

Stella, while acknowledging some frustration, emphasized the team’s ability to surpass expectations by overtaking several cars. He conveyed a positive message to the team and fans, emphasizing their competitiveness and determination while also recognizing the need for overall improvement throughout a race weekend.