F1 News

Stella McLaren on championship with Norris Max compromises our optimism

McLaren hopeful: 'Not thinking about championship is not how we compete'

30 June at 10:15
  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

Currently, Max Verstappen's and Red Bull's biggest rival in both championships are Lando Norris and McLaren. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella reacted to how things stand in Norris' quest to defeat the Dutchman more regularly.

Chasing Verstappen and Red Bull, after the Sprint in Austria, Norris trail the Dutchman 71 points, while in the Constructors' standings, Red Bull lead third-placed McLaren by 89 points.

"Certainly we always enter weekends with a lot of hope, and then as we go through the session Max kind of compromises this optimism. But [thinking it is impossible to win the drivers championship] for us that's not the way we think, that's not the way we approach racing. We approach every session trying to maximise it and then at the end of the season we will see where we are in the championship," Stella began to answer to GPblog's question about the championship. 

As Norris as the moment is closer in the championship, many, including Helmut Marko, raised their eyebrows about why Oscar Piastri was not told to let the Briton past. "Obviously we need to be aware as to where we are along the journey because there could be some decisions or some changes, for instance as to how much you invest on this year's car compared to next year car, that you may have to decide. But for the moment there's no particular decision we need to make, we just try to give our best and hopefully we will succeed in beating Max in the interest, once again, of the spectacle and to make Formula One racing more interesting," the Italian concluded.