Stella warns F1 rivals of MAJOR early season McLaren upgrade
Stella warns F1 rivals of MAJOR early season McLaren upgrade
It is only two races into the new F1 season, and already teams are discussing upgrades.
Red Bull looms imperiously over the rest of the field, with a double one-two result in the inaugural rounds.
READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: F1 champion insists Red Bull NOT responsible for 2023 success
Max Verstappen finished 18.639 seconds above the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, continuing his dominant display we saw at the Bahrain GP the previous weekend.
McLaren was the next best team after Ferrari, but felt the limitations of their car in some areas during the race weekend.
Andrea Stella discusses limitations of McLaren car
McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, discussed the strengths and limitations of the car after the Saudi Arabian GP.“The points of strength, you will have seen, that anybody behind a McLaren in Sector 1 would lose ground,” he said according to MotorsportWeek. “So, when you have these fast-flowing corners, in which it’s enough to do the first steer input, the car responds very well.
“When instead the corners are long, like in the last corner, and you need to really hold the steer for a long time, the car gives up a little bit and we lose a lot of time, which is where, like Ferrari, they are very strong, and that’s why Leclerc was so competitive in the last sector, just that corner.”
“And the other limitation was, somehow still we would like to have more top speed."
READ MORE: Jos Verstappen gives STUNNING verdict on Horner future at Red Bull
“So, I think these two features are very well exposed, at this track, where you have the long straights, and a couple of very long corners, where the limitation gets visible.
“Otherwise, it’s a battle of development. And the development may be the very visible developments where you come with an aerodynamic upgrade.
“Or there’s some other things that you can deliver from a mechanical or even aerodynamic point of view. And at the moment in the pipeline, we have both.
“We have some minor things that will come for Australia and hopefully for Japan, but they will be a few milliseconds.
“And then hopefully within the first third of the season, we will have a major upgrade.”
READ MORE: Wolff admits SHOCK Verstappen Mercedes swoop rests on crucial move
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Will F1 hopeful Antonelli replace Sargeant from Imola?
- 3 minutes ago
F1 News Today: Hamilton dealt major Newey blow as Red Bull chief makes BRUTAL admission
- 57 minutes ago
Schumacher reveals how Mercedes could snare Verstappen
- 1 hour ago
Red Bull chief in BRUTAL putdown of key F1 feature
- 2 hours ago
Cullen relationship blossoms with new star after moving on from Hamilton
- 3 hours ago
Hamilton dealt major Newey blow as shock COMPLICATION revealed
- Today 08:58
Related news
Sky Sports F1 pundit calls for RADICAL change with impressive argument
F1 team set to axe BOTH star drivers
F1 legend reveals 'FLOOD' of death threats after controversial decision
Big name driver 'very angry internally' after controversial battle
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860