McLaren boss delivers ‘50%’ verdict with timeline set to complete ultimate F1 ‘quest’

Come next year’s Belgian Grand Prix, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella hopes the “quest” to be Formula 1’s benchmark even on low-drag tracks will be complete.

Since Stella took the reins at McLaren ahead of the 2023 campaign, he has overseen a rapid rise up the grid for the iconic team, which has gone from having one of the slowest cars at that stage, to now one of the fastest on the grid, or the fastest as some observers claim.

McLaren ‘50%’ there on solving low-drag weakness

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

With two race wins achieved in F1 2024, plus eight runner-up results, McLaren have thrust themselves right into the battle for Constructors’ Championship glory, with the gap to leaders Red Bull only 42 points with 10 rounds of the season left to go.

However, Stella still sees work to do, with performance on tracks which demand lower drag levels for higher top speeds an area where progress is needed.

McLaren are only “50 per cent” there in fixing that deficiency according to Stella, who by the time Formula 1 returns to Spa next season, hopes the “quest” is completed to remove the asterisk of low-drag tracks when it comes to McLaren having the “most efficient” car.

Asked by media including PlanetF1.com whether he is confident that McLaren’s weakness of low-drag tracks is now solved – Oscar Piastri finishing P2 at Spa after race winner George Russell’s disqualification while Lando Norris took P5 – Stella replied: “I think we have gone 50 per cent of the journey.

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

“So to me, it’s not a surprise that 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.”

Norris – who picked up his first and only F1 victory so far at the 2024 Miami GP – remains in the hunt for the Drivers’ Championship , his deficit to leader Max Verstappen currently 78 points.

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