Stella fires back at McLaren's performance claims 'exploiting the car'

Despite the team scoring 12 podiums and two race victories in the first half of the season, Stella remains realistic about McLaren's car. "I think there's been a bit of an overstatement about the performance of the car," he began. "This could have been because we have been competitive on many Fridays. I thought that this was more the result of the good work in terms of preparation that the team did. And being ready. Then, we see that Red Bull and Mercedes, they kind of resolve their issues and become competitive on Saturday or on a Sunday." Andrea Stella explained in Friday's team boss press conference.

Stella: 'We are exploiting the car'

McLaren continues to get the best out of their car to obtain results, Stella believes. The Italian also feels like the top of the pecking order can change day by day in F1 at the moment. "I think this was very apparent in Austria. On Friday, we were just a few milliseconds off Verstappen. On Saturday, he was four-tenths ahead of everybody. And in the race, it was the fastest car. I think we should be a little careful in thinking that McLaren goes to the races and has the fastest car. And separate it from like, we are exploiting the car. We are getting the most out of it.

"Therefore, we are readily competitive. Said that we are pleased with what we've been able to achieve in terms of competitiveness of the car. And like I said before, I hope that these extra developments and upgrades will give us the possibility to retain this competitive position. In fairness, since Miami, we had not brought much lap time to the car itself." Stella concluded.

Although he remains realistic, Norris once again set the early pace, topping the timesheets straight away in Zandvoort in FP1. The Brit was two-tenths quicker than home hero Max Verstappen.