Andrea Stella fears Mercedes still has not shown its full potential
Even though it was the McLaren of Lando Norris that ended Mercedes’ dominance by winning the Sprint Race at the Miami Grand Prix, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella fears that the MCL40 is still significantly behind the performance level of the Mercedes W17.
Aside from the Sprint race, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell managed to secure all the most important sessions during the remaining race weekends, with Antonelli winning the last three rounds of the Formula 1 season.
Andrea Stella: “Compared to Mercedes, we suffer in high-speed corners”
Speaking to GPBlog.com, Andrea Stella analyzed the areas of the track where Mercedes has been able to make the difference compared to McLaren.
“There are several indicators telling us that Mercedes is the fastest car at the moment. Unlike the Sprint, they did not have any issues in qualifying and, if you look at the car behavior through the corners, they are faster than us,” he explained.
“High-speed corners are where we suffer a bit more compared to them,” he continued. “That is where they gain quite a lot on us. If we then look at what happened in the race, especially at the end of the first and final stints, in the first case Kimi Antonelli closed the gap to us, while in the second situation he extended it in his favor.”
However, these are not Andrea Stella’s only concerns.
Concluding his analysis, the Italian manager admitted that he is worried Mercedes may not even have shown the full potential of the W17 yet.
“I think this indicates that Mercedes is faster than us. Even though we were slower, our execution was perfect, while they only showed us a few tenths of their potential,” – the former Ferrari team boss said.
Andrea Stella’s candid assessment highlights the psychological warfare currently playing out at the front of the grid. By suggesting that Mercedes is effectively “sandbagging” or operating well within its limits, the McLaren boss is managing expectations for the Woking faithful while keeping the pressure firmly on Brackley. In a season where 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli is showing veteran-like composure, McLaren’s perfect operational execution may be their only weapon until they can find a solution for their high-speed cornering deficit.
With the W17 seemingly holding a performance reserve, do you think McLaren can bridge the high-speed gap before the European leg of the season, or is Mercedes’ current advantage simply too great to catch?
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