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Stella on having two competitive McLaren cars against Red Bull

Stella identifies a Red Bull weakness: 'We see the benefit of that'

19 May at 19:05
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  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Andrea Stella has explained how McLaren are feeling the benefit of having two competitive cars in the race. Lando Norris nearly beat Max Verstappen in the 2024 Imola Grand Prix, and Oscar Piastri wasn't far away from the podium places. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez lingered in eighth place.

McLaren sense world championship battle

After the Imola Grand Prix, Zak Brown spoke confidently about winning multiple races over the rest of the 2024 Formula 1 season. Despite not winning in Italy, Stella was also smiling because Norris was able to push Verstappen hard in the closing stages of the race. The McLaren boss quickly praised his driver's performance.

"I think Lando did a good job of saving tyres for a long part of the second stint and then using the magic over the end. But at the same time, there were times where Leclerc was the fastest car on track. So a very, very interesting race from this point of view," Stella told the media, including GPblog.

At one point, Leclerc was advancing on Norris. Ferrari, who also added upgrades this weekend, are seemingly closing in on Red Bull Racing. This has put pressure on Perez, who now needs to perform to ensure that Red Bull takes home more points. It seems that there's a chance of a title fight in the near future. Even if it's already too late for 2024, Stella identifies one benefit McLaren has.

"I think we see the benefit of having more than one competitive car which create various scenarios, and I think that was quite entertaining, certainly for the fans," Stella concluded. 

McLaren took home 30 points, one more point that Red Bull managed with Perez's 8th-place finish. Having two cars to attack against Verstappen could also open up strategy options in races. McLaren are over 100 points behind Red Bull in the World Championship. Even with 17 races to go, that seems to be a stretch too far, with Verstappen still winning races.