McLaren F1 team boss Andrea Stella says it will be a tough challenge to dethrone Red Bull, but the big F1 teams have no excuses.
Red Bull dominated their rivals last year with 17 wins from 22 races, and they are gaining momentum this season following 2022.
Max Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez took turns winning the first two races in Bahrain and Jeddah, and Red Bull dominated in a one-two game.
Red Bull’s 100% win rate, together with the sheer high level of performance of the Red Bull RB19 compared to its competitors, has led some pundits, and George Russell, to believe that Red Bull will be the winner of the season. It suggests the possibility of winning every race!
Nevertheless, Andrea Stella believes it is important that Red Bull’s main rivals act on the information available to them to hunt them down.
“The last few years have been really amazing seasons in terms of how close the races have been,” said Stella.
“We may have to accept that there will be seasons dominated by one team.”
“But with all the information we have now and the possibility that we will have to see the car, like the one on display on Friday, I don’t think there is an excuse for other teams not to know what to do.”
“So I keep saying that other teams need to take this opportunity to improve.”
“At the end of the day, it’s a sport where you win races by going faster. I don’t think there’s an easy answer.”
Red Bull are often noted that cost cap penalties will limit their aero development and affect their performance this season.
But Stella doesn’t think that’s necessarily the case, given the RB19’s performance advantage.
“The advantage at the moment is big enough that the gap should not be affected too much by the fact that the teams behind them cannot develop as much,” said Stella.
“The advantage at the moment is big enough that the fact that they can’t develop as much as the teams behind them shouldn’t affect them too much in terms of gaps,” he said.
“That’s my guess, but I think the other teams should be inspired, not only morally, but technically as well.”
“It’s a long season and we have time to put the knowledge we have into development, so I hope towards the end of the season this group will be even closer to Red Bull.”
Stella also cited Aston Martin’s remarkable start to the 2023 season as a case study of the team’s rapid progress.
“It certainly shows that this kind of leap is possible,” added Stella.
“In a way, we have closed the gap outside Red Bull. So if we make a jump, we can fight for good points.”
“I think Aston have seen the concept of the car and followed it, and they have shown that it is possible.”
“We were able to reaffirm McLaren’s basic message: we need to work hard to continue developing the car.”
“As behind the development, it is progressive and alive in its development. We need to follow this direction and take advantage of it immediately.”
Category: F1 / McLaren F1 Team
