McLaren Team Principal Admits Red Bull With Max Verstappen Are Faster

Saturday, 13 January 2024 at 09:00

Andrea Stella admitted in a recent interview that McLaren could not match Red Bull's pace no matter how exceptional his drivers were.

After the end of the 2023 season, Lando Norris suggested that McLaren is probably in the best place the team has been in the last ten years.

On the other hand, the team still didn't have a car that would be fast enough to match Red Bull's RB19. McLaren's F1 team principal Andrea Stella told Auto Motor und Sport:

"Even an outstanding driver like Verstappen can only do what the car allows him to do, We have to say to ourselves: ‘The combination of Verstappen and Red Bull is faster than us. We have to beat them.'"

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The team principal did not mention Sergio Perez because McLaren had been able to beat the Mexican driver much more often than the 26-year-old.

“Red Bull is good enough to make these results possible. What we saw in most cases with Lando and, at times, with Oscar was extraordinary – especially in qualification."

McLaren was able to match the speed of Red Bull in some qualifying sessions and the first halves of a few races; a great example was the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where Norris almost overtook Verstappen.

"But it is impossible that our car, no matter which driver was in the cockpit, would have been as fast as Red Bull in the second part of the stints. The Red Bull treated the tires better."

Many ask how big of a difference the triple World Champion makes in Red Bull, and the McLaren team principal has a pretty clear picture as he explained:

“You can separate the car from the driver. Where Verstappen makes the difference is that he can always deliver this extremely high standard.

Red Bull indeed had a very fast car that provided the Dutchman with an advantage, but his consistency was what made the difference and what allowed him to win 19 out of 22 races while breaking all the records.