McLaren F1 News: Red Bull and Mercedes WARNED as Andrea Stella makes declaration

Christian Horner and Toto Wolff — Photo: © IMAGO

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Pressure piled on Red Bull and Mercedes after stark declaration from rivals

The top teams have been jostling for race wins all season

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 9 August 2024 11:55

Red Bull and Mercedes have received a warning from a rival F1 boss as the competition at the front of the grid heats up.

After two consecutive Red Bull one-twos at the start of the season, F1 fans were resigned to another season of dominance from the reigning champions.

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However, McLaren emerged to challenge Red Bull at the Miami Grand Prix, and since then have established themselves as arguably the team to beat.

The Woking-based outfit have achieved two wins this season, with Lando Norris claiming a maiden victory in Miami and Oscar Piastri acquiring his first win in Hungary.

Lando Norris achieved his first victory at the Miami Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri achieved his first grand prix win in Hungary

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Mercedes have also become a threat, despite a woeful start to the season, and have added three race wins to their tally - the most recent of which was at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Whilst McLaren were less competitive at Spa, their team principal Andrea Stella believes they have made progress on low-downforce tracks.

“I think we have gone 50 per cent of the journey,” he said, according to MotorsportWeek.

“I’m more confident that at high downforce we have the car in a good place, like the car does what we want in terms especially of aerodynamic behaviour.

“But we haven’t yet done a lot of development at lower drag level.

Andrea Stella discusses McLaren's progress

“So to me it’s not a surprise that here in Belgium we were not as competitive as Hungary, and it’s not a surprise that for the same or a little bit better top speed.

“Still we were losing quite a bit in the second sector. It means that if we want to gain speed, we’ll give up quite a lot of grip.

“But I hope that in the future, possibly next year in Belgium, we have completed this quest to have the most efficient car even when top speed is important.”

F1 Red Bull Mercedes McLaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri