McLaren Racing team principal Andrea Stella has highlighted the need to improve pit stops after Lando Norris lost crucial seconds due to a slow pit stop at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend. This comes amid Red Bull’s resurgence this season, as Max Verstappen won his second consecutive race at Baku.
Norris was the sole points scorer for McLaren at Baku after Oscar Piastri crashed his MCL39 in the opening lap. The Briton could have finished the race in P5 or P6, but a slow pit stop meant he lost those positions, finishing P7 eventually. The setback also cost him four championship points. The issue was reportedly caused by a problem fitting the front right wheel nut.
Baku City Circuit’s tight corners, which limit overtaking, made matters worse for Norris. Adding to this was the dirty air problem drivers faced while being close to the car in front.
However, McLaren’s pit stop problem was also witnessed at the Italian Grand Prix. It was Norris’ front left tire that the team struggled to change, which caused Piastri to surpass him in the race. The Australian driver was then asked to give the place back to Norris.
McLaren’s Australian driver Oscar Piastri and McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris ride in the pits during a qualifying session of the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on September…
McLaren’s Australian driver Oscar Piastri and McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris ride in the pits during a qualifying session of the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on September 20, 2025.
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Anton Vaganov / AFP/Getty Images
Stella spoke about the pit stop issue, acknowledging that there is work that needs to be done in this area. He said:
“Definitely in terms of pit stops, that’s an area in which we have already concentrated our efforts. As a matter of fact, we need to keep working because there’s some important performance that is available through pit stops.
“And we have seen that the racing, if anything, is getting tighter and tighter. So what is the impact of a pit stop now gets more and more important.
“Definitely for the remainder of the season and also thinking about next year’s car, there’s work to do from a pit stop point of view — for what is the execution of the pit stop – but also the hardware such that executing a pit stop for our crew is just more straightforward and more natural.
“There’s still some interactions between the operator and the hardware that should be improved from a hardware point of view.”
Stella clarified that the pit stop problems at Monza and Baku had no connection. He added:
“No, they were different. This one [in Baku] was definitely more to do with the interaction between the operator and the gunning. But we know that from a hardware point of view, we are not optimising.
“This is not because we didn’t want to, this is because you kind of learn on the way. And we know that there’s room for improvement in terms of the equipment, in terms of the hardware on the equipment and the car side, so that we can make the life a little bit easier for our pit crew.”