Andrea Stella claims Mclaren can’t catch the much-improved Ferrari in 2024

McLaren is currently the third fastest team on the 2024 F1 grid.

Andrea Stella claims Mclaren can’t catch the much-improved Ferrari in 2024

Andrea Stella (via IMAGO)

McLaren had a slightly disappointing weekend at Suzuka as they failed to match their expectations. The team had done extremely well in qualifying, however, during the race, the MCL38 was no match for Ferrari’s SF-24. Andrea Stella, the team principal of McLaren, believes they are going to have a hard time keeping up with the Red this year.

Ferrari’s SF-24 has worked extremely well and this has allowed its drivers to pull out strong performance out of the car. McLaren despite having a better qualifying, struggled with hard compounds in the race, which resulted in their fall on the chart.

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The Andrea Stella-led team finished the Japanese GP in fourth and eighth place courtesy of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. 

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Ferrari will also bring updates [to Imola], so it will become a race to see who can update best. But I think one update package alone won’t be enough to catch them.
Andrea Stella told: formu1a.uno

McLaren will get their first update package at Miami, but it would most probably be not enough to cover up the margins. The Woking-based team’s key weakness with pace was exposed during the race in Suzuka. The first package update will help them with the pace, and because of this, Stella is trying to keep a positive outlook. 

Andrea Stella believes McLaren will be stronger from Miami onward

As mentioned above, McLaren will receive their first update package for the MCL38 in Miami, and the team principal believes that’s when the team will start to thrive. However, before that, there is one obstacle for the team, the Chinese GP.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (Via: Imago)

Unlike the Suzuka International Racing circuit, where the track was in McLaren’s favor, the Shanghai layout is quite the opposite. 

Once we have developed the car, we will talk much less about the type of layout that favours or disfavors us. A better phase of this 2024 season.
Andrea Stella via: formu1a.uno

The team will need to strategize better to minimize the Japanese Grand Prix damage at the next race. With the upcoming developments, Stella feels the MCL38 will able to adapt better with any track and they will no longer have to worry about the circuit layouts.

McLaren has scored twice as many points as Mercedes in the first four races. The development plan that is to arrive soon, will help them hold their ground in the 2024 constructors’ championship. 

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