Stella: “Suspicions about McLaren? Good news for us”

The histrionic and (especially in Italy) iconic Julio Velasco has always loved to remember that those who win celebrate and those who lose explain. In Formula 1, in the explanations of those who lose, accusations and suspicions are often added to the winners. And so also this beginning of the season 2025 has made no exceptions: in the sights of the opponents there is obviously McLaren. In Imola, the protagonists have returned to talk about the speed of Woking cars, in particular of how they manage to exploit better than all tires, with an optimal use of use which for opponents is still a rebus. So away to the usual suspicions about the use of materials on the boundaries of legality. But the current reality, certified by all the severe checks of the International Federation, is that the English team has a regular car and that the technical staff led by Rob Marshall, ex Red Bull, has done a better job than the others so far.

via the Sassolini

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The suspicions about the skills of the McLaren of thermal advantages (non -regulatory) in the use of the tires have been added to the accusations that date back to 2024 of illegal flexibility of the Alattoni or water inside the tires. In Imola, where Oscar Plastri and Lando Norris have confirmed the superiority since free practice, Team Principal Andrea Stella wanted to remove not a few pebbles from the shoes and the question about the suspicions of the rivals thus replied: “For us it is good news when the rivals are concentrated, instead of on themselves, on aspects that presume are present on our car, but that in reality they are not at all. Flexion of the front wing, which everyone has, is not the reason why McLaren is so competitive.

all regular

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FIA checks have never found anything irregular. Therefore, until proven otherwise, it will be necessary to assume that McLaren has done a better job in terms of design, aerodynamic load, suspension structure and anything else. This means that opponents could need time that perhaps there is not even to fill this gap. Stella smiled at this underlining: “I would like to give the wrong answer so as to send our rivals off the road – the former Ferrari driver ironized – but I will say this: in many years in Formula 1, I learned that you have to focus on yourself. When you distract yourself too much looking at what others do, it is usually an alarm bell. It is the signal that you have to go back to the factory and start again. Even our rivals “.

the directive

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From the Spanish GP the FIA ​​technical directive will enter into force which requires a lower value of flexibility of the wings on static loads, that on which all opponents count to see an McLaren, if not distant, at least conditioned in performance. So that the championship finds uncertainty. However, Stella clarified that Woking is not with his hands in his hand: “The McL39 is competitive and Miami was the track where the strengths have manifested themselves better – said the engineer of Orvieto – we know well that on other circuits, as in Saudi Arabia or in Japan, the story is different. To keep the advantage we will have to develop and update the car because we are still. MCL39 to make it even more suitable for a wider range of conditions and speeds when cornering “.