Andrea Stella on the McLaren pit wall - Photo: RacePictures

McLaren on high alert amid Stella's daunting Verstappen claim

16:00, 19 Oct

Updated: 16:04, 19 Oct

byNorberto Mujica

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has stated he believes Max Verstappen and Red Bull have a quicker driver and car combination than the papaya team.

We need to be ready as a team and as drivers to Max and Red Bull being competitive and possibly the fastest car at every of the remaining races.

- Andrea Stella

Verstappen has now taken three out of the last four available pole positions, and during the sprint weekend at COTA, the Dutchman has so far had a perfect weekend, taking the pole and the win for the short format side of the event.

This upturn in form, Stella believes makes Verstappen and Red Bull a faster car combination than the tandem Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri can be with McLaren.

Stella said: "I think we have to admit that at the moment Verstappen and Red Bull are the most competitive car up to a certain point.

"We talked about the impact of the track layout, and I think this is true in Baku, it's true in Singapore, and to some extent it's true in Austin, but the gaps we are experiencing now to Verstappen, can't only be ascribed to the track layout.

Max Verstappen is set to start from pole position - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

"I think it's clear that Red Bull have taken a step forward and on our side we need to look at how we can extract more out of the package."

According to the Italian engineer, Red Bull's performance surge has also found McLaren going through a difficult period where the team can't maximise the potential in their once dominant MCL39.

He continued: "This [Verstappen-Red Bull combination's superiority] has been confirmed in multiple layouts and [I] still think that in the three venues [Baku, Singapore and Austin] we should be able to exploit the strength of the car which comes mainly when you can roll speed in the middle of the corner.

"And even today we were definitely struggling in all the braking zones however let's say, I would have expected a smaller gap here, if anything."

Oscar Piastri after qualifying P6 at the United States GP - Photo: RacePictures

After emphasising that McLaren had failed to maximise its performance due to the aforementioned issues, he alerted his team and drivers to the incoming danger Verstappen and Red Bull pose to the papaya outfit's title aspirations.

"But we have to look at the facts. We need to be ready as a team and as drivers to Max and Red Bull being competitive and possibly the fastest car at every of the remaining races," Stella concluded.

Norris and Piastri react to quali, Brown shifts stance

While Verstappen took pole position for the U.S Grand Prix, Norris could only muster a P2 spot on the grid nearly three tenths off of the Red Bull Racing driver's pace, which according to him shows the profound issues McLaren are currently facing with their car.

For the championship leader, Piastri, it was a lowly P6 position at the end of qualifying, which prompted similar comments to those of his teammate.

Both papaya drivers were taken out on Saturday morning's Sprint race at COTA in a Lap 1 Turn 1 melee. While CEO Zak Brown had balmed Nico Hulkenberg for the crash, the American CEO has now changed his mind.

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