A chaotic weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku could serve as a wake -up call for McLaren and the team’s title ambitions in Formula 1. Because Max Verstappen is slowly getting closer to Oscar Piatri and Lando Norris in the World Cup.
When McLaren team boss Andrea Stella Max Verstappen emphatically described as the title candidate after qualifying, his comments made some raised eyebrows.
“A clear yes. Can you capitalize? Firstly, he is Max Verstappen – world champion of the past four years. In a fast car. There are races in which McLaren will have no advantage in terms of competitiveness. And Lando and Oscar could take a mutual time,” said the McLaren team boss.
At that time Verstappen was 94 points behind Piatri. But after a catastrophic weekend for the Australian, the deficit has now been reduced to 69 points in counters that were still in 199. Still a long way, but Stella’s comments now have a little more weight.
On the surface, McLaren shouldn’t worry too much. The car’s pace has not suddenly disappeared, but there was two routes with Monza and Baku that did not meet the strengths of the car. Las Vegas will be another, but elsewhere McLaren will continue to show up.
How real is Red Bull’s “rebirth”?
At the same time, it is still unclear how Real Red Bull’s “rebirth”, as Helmut Marko called it, really is. Monza and Baku fit the RB21, and the next race in Singapore will be the biggest challenge so far.
“If you had asked me what was the most difficult weekend, I would have said that it could be Baku or Las Vegas,” said Stella. “We know very well that our car is very competitive in long, medium -fast curves, of which we have none here in Baku, nor in Vegas. The car is not particularly effective when there is a lot of braking, of which there is a lot.”
Coupled with the Aero properties of the MCL39, the fact that the McLaren is the most gentle car for its rear tires is a virtue that is reinforced by hot conditions. This should benefit him on more demanding routes in hot climate zones. Singapore is one of them, as is Qatar.
“With high tire wear, we could be more competitive. With little wear, as we saw it in Monza, we do not necessarily have the best racing car,” adds Stella, while he warns that Red Bull’s upswing is not just route -specific.
“We have already seen in Monza that they have improved, because in our opinion the way they won Monza was more than just a car that adapts well with low air resistance.”
“They were quickly on the straight in the medium -fast and slow curves, and we know that Max, if he has a competitive car, can deliver strong weekends,” said Stella.
“We will now see in Singapore where we should do well. Hopefully we can fight for victories again, and then we will see how the rest of the championship developed. But Max is definitely in the race. We knew it and we got the confirmation.”
Will McLaren get too careless?
But if there is no reason to panic after an atypical Grand Prix for McLaren and a rarely faulty weekend for the otherwise metronomic Piatri, why is Stella so stubbornly convinced that Verstappen represents such a great threat?
Is he already looking for excuses if his drivers don’t make it? This is a theory, but it seems unlikely. It not only does not correspond to his style, because like every team boss, Stella protects his drivers, but not in an incredible way.
There is still a lot of trust that Piatri or Norris can and will make it, although Verstappen is still an outsider. The Italian’s comments can also be seen as a way to anticipate and avoid any complacency that could creep in.
Since McLaren only needs 13 points in Singapore to defend a dominant design title, it could be tempting to reduce the pressure a little.
After the failures of both drivers in the last races and a particularly problematic weekend in Baku – with a reliability problem with Piatri in training and another poor pit stop at Norris – it becomes clear that the recess combination can now exert enough pressure.
Neither Piatri nor Norris can afford other mistakes, not to mention a joint point out of only six points on a single weekend.
McLaren team boss Stella warns
Due to his comments in the media, Stella also indirectly mobilized the troops on both the route and at home in Woking. A first driver title in Papaya has not yet been festival, so the team must not go off the gas.
Obviously, it also has a responsibility towards both drivers to enable them to defend their chances in the best possible way, with Norris now lying 25 points behind Piatri.
“If you drive at the top of Formula 1, the competition is so tight that you simply cannot afford mistakes, because it will be your competitors who are willing to benefit from it,” warns Stella.
“With regard to the driver’s championship, the error margin will certainly continue to reduce, but this is always the ethos when you drive in Formula 1. Hopefully, some of the inaccuracies and problems this weekend have accumulated, because not only we had no quick car, but also some reliability problems that cost Oscar time during training.”
“That’s why there are a lot for the drivers, but also for the team.” The best answer would be a emphatic and clean performance in Singapore, one of the preferred routes of the team, where Norris Verstappen beat by 21 seconds last year.
To secure his second design title in a row, but also to stabilize the situation in the driver’s championship and to eradicate the burgeoning Verstappen-Comeck-narrung.