McLaren believes that Red Bull is “still a step too far away” despite a podium from Lando Norris in Japan.
McLaren’s both Formula 1 drivers, Norris and Oscar Piastri, finished on podium at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Briton radioed: “Double podium. We are coming for Red Bull.”
Despite an encouraging weekend, McLaren boss is cautious in his expectations.
Andrew Stella, McLaren F1 team principal, believes in Red Bull dominance. He said: “Still a step too far. But in fairness, at the moment, it looks [as if] Max is one step too far.
“There’s a variability of tracks left in the season, but none of these tracks has the Singapore characteristics.
“While there could be some tracks in which we could be competitive – I think Qatar should be a decent track for us – I’m afraid that the characteristics we like, they are also the characteristics where Red Bull will be just outstanding.
“So we’ll have to be realistic that we’ll need some situations to happen to be able to make the final step.”
McLaren remained competitive in F1, but its situation has turned around completely. The programme of upgrades have helped recover again in season. It remains the only real threat to Red Bull dominance this year.
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However, Stella is aware how things works in F1. He believes Aston Martin current position is a live example that how tables can turn. At the start of the season, the Silverstone based team remained regular on podium. But currently it struggles to make points.
Asked how mindful McLaren was of how quickly progress can stop in F1, Stella said: “Very mindful. Very, very mindful.
“And if anything, we are trying to be as rigorous as possible, from a development point of view.
“We want to ensure that we are not shortcutting any step, and we don’t get to [a situation where we say] ‘we need to develop faster’. Then you start to skip some methodical steps that we have applied so far.
“I think everyone at McLaren, especially the technical leadership, are very aware that the pace of development is already fast. And that’s what we need to keep pursuing.
“Then we’ll see, once we are in Bahrain next year, who’s been able to develop faster. We saw with Aston Martin that over the winter, big steps are possible, or like with McLaren, that you can do it even during the season.”
