Andrea Stella evaluated McLaren’s performance at the Miami Grand Prix in Formula 1. The executive was honest about the team’s performance, which was far from expected.
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The Sprint was extremely positive for the papaya duo, as Lando Norris secured a dominant win from start to finish, while Oscar Piastri crossed the finish line in second place.
However, in the qualifying session on the same day, things were much more complicated with the Brit in fourth and the Australian in seventh. Evaluating the result, Stella believes part of McLaren’s success was due to problems faced by rivals.
“Well, I think we already said yesterday, after the sprint qualifying session, where we took pole position, that several cars could have taken pole, because we had Mercedes, which had some difficulty with tire distribution. I think [Charles] Leclerc made some mistakes,” he told Sky Sports F1.
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“So, actually, the reality is that, due to the combination of updates and drag characteristics, I think the four teams are very close and it all comes down to execution,” he continued.
“Today the conditions were different from yesterday. The wind was very different. We had some issues to resolve with the power unit consistency and the drivers needed to find their rhythm, and it seems some other teams performed better than us in that aspect. So, I think the reality is that the teams are very close and it all depends on execution. I think for Formula 1 this is great news. We will have exciting races ahead,” he concluded.
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