Photo: Race Pictures

McLaren cautious before 'match point': 'It's not ours yet!'

10:53, 21 Sep

Updated: 11:37, 21 Sep

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byKada Sarkozi

Andrea Stella remained cautious ahead of McLaren's first chance to secure the 2025 constructors' title.

First of all, let's go and win it. Like, it's not ours yet.

- Andrea Stella

Andrea Stella, McLaren's team principal - Photo: Race Pictures

"First of all, let's go and win it. Like, it's not ours yet. In terms of the feeling we have at the moment in this quest for the 2025 title, yeah, they are different to last year," Stella began about McLaren's opportunity.

The previous season, McLaren achieved its first title since 1998 during the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Now, they have the chance to win it by Race 17 with seven rounds to go.

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"Last year, the championship came as a surprise, much earlier than expected in terms of the trajectory of the team. Only in Miami we could take the first victory. Actually, it was here in Baku that we took the lead in the championship. And at the end, it was a great surprise and a great joy.

"This year, we realized relatively soon that the car was very competitive, that we were in condition to win races.

"So it was more about keeping the concentration, keeping the focus, maximising the potential available.

"And also this year, we have one more dimension, which is the fact that we have also the drivers in contention for the Drivers’ Championship."

According to the Italian, the team raised the bar from a technical point of view if he had to choose one area. "I think the car itself is just a much better car. It's very innovative compared to last year.

"We decided to go for development in pretty much every single part of the car. We required some bravery in some areas of the car, for instance in the front suspension and some other parts that are less visible.

"So for me, that's where the biggest step forward has happened. And obviously, like I said, the race team and the drivers themselves — we are all developed."

Photo: Race Pictures

Can McLaren challenge Red Bull’s record-breaking 2023 season?

In the 2023 season, Max Verstappen won 19, Sergio Perez won two Grands Prix. The Austrian team collected 860 points.

McLaren would have to score 244 points with eight weekends to go to overtake Red Bull Racing in that regard.

"It's remarkable. For us, this is a reference, but this is not what we think about.

"What we think about is one race at a time. Like we saw in Monza, things cannot be taken for granted. Red Bull was faster than us in Monza in qualifying and in the race.

"We had the DNF in Zandvoort on Lando's car. So before we think about the final destination, we have to make sure that we maximise at every single stage," Stella concluded.

How can McLaren secure the constructors' title this weekend?

Currently, the Woking-based team has 617 points in the standings, 280 more than Ferrari.

There are 389 points still up for grabs in the remaining rounds. McLaren now needs to outscore Ferrari by nine points, and avoid being outscored by Mercedes by 12.