Andrea Stella acknowledges Max Verstappen’s impact but warns it’s hard to maintain without the best car. Andrea Stella comments on Max Verstappen's impressive performances, acknowledging his ability to make a difference.

Max Verstappen’s impressive performance during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend was universally recognized. Although it was clear that the Red Bull seen in Suzuka was likely the best car of the season – benefiting from lower tire degradation that allowed the drivers to push without worrying too much about wear, which is one of the weaknesses of the RB21 – few doubt that the world champion contributed significantly with his talent to staying ahead of the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

This view is also shared by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, who, however, sees a positive sign in the fact that his drivers lost the Suzuka race primarily due to an outstanding performance by Super Max.

Andrea Stella’s Comment

Andrea Stella’s reasoning is quite pragmatic and begins with the consideration that, without a truly top car in terms of competitiveness, Max Verstappen cannot repeat such performances every weekend. “Ultimately,” he said in a press conference after the Japanese Grand Prix, as reported by RacingNews365, “the most important condition for aiming for both world titles is having the best car. In this sense, it’s crucial to keep racing solidly. If you can’t win, then it’s good to finish a race with both drivers on the podium. If you race this way, I believe it’s a strategy that will pay off in the long term.”

Max Verstappen Can’t Always Do It Alone

“I think Max Verstappen,” Andrea Stella added, “is somehow making the difference on his own right now. But it’s very difficult to keep doing this for 24 events in a season, if you don’t have the best car in terms of performance. Obviously, in the title fight, we consider Max, and we also consider George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Lewis Hamilton. At this moment, Ferrari is struggling, but we take all these drivers into account over the entire season, at least until the balance of power stabilizes a bit.”

“I believe that right now,” concluded the McLaren team principal, “we are still in a phase of performance variability depending on the circuits. And obviously, Hamilton won the Sprint in China, Russell was competitive in the race in Shanghai, in Suzuka we had Red Bull and Max Verstappen. We are still in a transitional phase, and we’ll have to see how things settle in the future.”