McLaren team boss not quick to judge current gap to Red Bull

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has shared insights on the current competitive landscape in Formula 1, emphasizing that it will take a few more races to fully understand the balance of power among the leading teams. Stella pointed out the unique characteristics of the recent race tracks in Miami, Emilia-Romagna, and Monaco, noting that these circuits require aggressive curb usage—a factor that has been a weakness for Red Bull.

Over the last three race weekends, the competition at the front has been extremely tight, with three different winners from three different teams: Lando Norris for McLaren in Miami, Max Verstappen for Red Bull in Imola, and Charles Leclerc for Ferrari in Monaco. Stella highlighted that the common requirement for success at these tracks is the ability to handle aggressive curb usage effectively.

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“I think the picture of Red Bull’s competitiveness is not quite clear. Imola and Monaco are two tracks that require aggressive curb usage to be fast. To some extent, this is also true for Miami, but not as much,” Stella explained. He added, “So, I don’t think our progress is solely due to the fact that we are more competitive because of these track characteristics, but it’s genuine. We simply added downforce to the car. As I said before, our drivers were not happy with the behavior over the curbs and bumps in Monaco. This is the only limitation we still encounter.”

Stella acknowledged that while the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve also demands aggressive curb usage, the races following Canada will provide a clearer understanding of the competitive landscape. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on with Red Bull. We need a few more races to understand. Now we are going to Canada, where the track also requires aggressive curb usage. But the tracks after Canada will tell us more about the current competitive situation,” he said.