McLaren crew principal Andrea Stella says Max Verstappen is unquestionably again within the title battle after his victory within the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s win in Baku was his second in succession following the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, and got here in a race the place championship chief Oscar Piastri crashed out on the opening lap. With Verstappen nonetheless 69 factors adrift of Piastri, however having taken 35 factors out of the Australian’s lead over the past two races, Stella says Crimson Bull’s efficiency enchancment makes the defending champion a real risk.
“I believe Singapore needs to be a return to the type of circuit traits that ought to permit us to specific the total potential of our automobile,” Stella advised SiriusXM. “Nevertheless, I believe what Crimson Bull are exhibiting in the mean time isn’t merely associated to the circuits.
“I believe they’ve made a real enchancment. They’d upgrades in Monza. They appear to have discovered a strategy to exploit these upgrades with the setup. I stated that [after qualifying] already that Max and Crimson Bull can be common contenders for the wins, and undoubtedly Max is a contender for the Drivers’ Championship.
“So there’s loads of work forward of us. We have to keep centered, enhance, and we are going to go once more.”
Stella says the truth that Lando Norris was restricted to seventh place in Azerbaijan is an indication of the McLaren being overwhelmed on pure tempo, regardless of a scruffy weekend from the crew.
“The monitor we knew wasn’t essentially probably the most suited to the strengths of our automobile, however one way or the other we did not capitalize on the potential that was obtainable. Within the race, the automobile was not quick sufficient to overhaul anyone, so Lando spent all race in site visitors.
“There’s some work to do to enhance the automobile, or this 12 months we have to take a look at the set-up, [because] there will not be any extra developments. Additionally I believe there’s some studying as a result of we appear to have the ability to design very quick vehicles for some type of circuits, however when now we have these kinds of braking and quick corners, we battle a bit bit.
“So like I stated, numerous studying for the drivers and for the crew, after which we have to look additionally on the operations. The pit cease as soon as once more wasn’t a quick one and we had some points with reliability in follow. So one to take all the knowledge, assessment, reset and are available again stronger.”
