Stella braced for battle with Red Bull: 'McLaren must be resilient'

There are ten Grands Prix remaining (plus three sprints) in the 2024 Formula 1 season. McLaren won their first race of the season in May at the Miami Grand Prix and had to wait - somewhat remarkably - until the middle of July when Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix. In between, good opportunities for more wins came and went. They arguably should've won in Canada, Spain and Austria to name just three examples. 

Stella rallies his McLaren troops

Stella knows that McLaren can't keep making mistakes. "With two weeks of shutdown over, we now return to racing with renewed energy. This weekend marks the start of a very busy period, with four races in five weeks. To ensure we maximise the opportunities ahead of us, we must be resilient, focused and work together closely as a team to extract maximum performance," Stella said. He also highlighted that Zandvoort provides a unique challenge.

Oscar Piastri gained good momentum prior to the summer break. He won in Hungary, and despite starting behind his teammate in Belgium, he stood on the podium. His efforts were rewarded even more when winner George Russell got disqualified so the Australian ended up in P2. Piastri promises to use this as a launch pad for the second part of the season.

"I was really happy with my driving before the break and it was good to get the win in Hungary and second place in Spa. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car in Zandvoort, as it’s always a good race weekend, especially with cool characteristics like the steep banking. I’ll be working hard to keep on improving my position in the championship," said the current number four in the standings.

Lando Norris also had a simple message: "I feel refreshed and ready for the final 10 races of the year. Hopefully, we can continue where we left off and continue bringing the fight for wins and podiums."