Right when the activities for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix were about to begin, Andrea Stella, who is in charge of the McLaren team, cautioned everyone about the likely scenario of Max Verstappen making his presence felt in what seemed to be a battle for the Formula 1 title occurring within the McLaren team, specifically between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Stella’s prediction soon became reality, due to a combination of Red Bull’s unexpected improvement and McLaren’s own mistakes, such as losing potential points in Baku, Singapore, and Austin, while Piastri experienced his first significant setback as a possible championship contender.
Verstappen’s progress was hindered on the challenging Autodromo Hermanos Rodrgiuez, where the Red Bull driver faced difficulties with the car’s balance, resulting in a fifth-place qualifying position. He managed to climb to third place, trailing behind Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, reducing his gap to the top spot to 36 points with only four race weekends remaining. This was a smaller margin than the one he faced against the then-leader Piastri before the weekend.
However, even with the four-time world champion closing in, Stella claims that McLaren now has greater confidence in one of its drivers securing the title. This confidence isn’t based on the points standings, but rather on the fact that McLaren has finally turned things around and demonstrated that its MCL39 is still capable of winning races. Furthermore, as evidenced by Norris’ dominant victory in Mexico, it can even dominate races.
“The belief regarding the championship has grown stronger because we’ve shown that we possess a car that can achieve victories and, under certain circumstances, even control races,” Stella stated on Sunday night.
“This is the most crucial element in enabling Lando and Oscar to compete for the drivers’ championship. I don’t believe it’s a matter of calculations; it’s about competitiveness. And it was vital to reaffirm this level of competitiveness.”
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / Getty Images
This optimistic view is certainly applicable to Norris, who has been McLaren’s standout performer in recent races and currently holds a narrow lead over Piastri by a single point. However, Stella believes that the lessons Piastri has learned from his difficulties in Austin and Mexico will strengthen his position rather than diminish his confidence. He also insists that these setbacks will not affect the Australian’s chances of regaining the advantage from Brazil onwards.
“In the last four races, there’s no justification to suggest that one [track] might favour one driver more than the other,” Stella stated, whose team has already secured the constructors’ title.
“Even though he conceded some points to Verstappen, I think Oscar has gained significant knowledge from this weekend. And that’s a form of investment made to ensure competitiveness in every condition during the final portion of the season.”
“Overall, we’re leaving this weekend feeling encouraged and optimistic about the final part of the season.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
