Andrea Stella claims Max Verstappen won’t match Red Bull RB19 in a McLaren
Max Verstappen saw significant success in the 2023 season, winning 19/22 races in an extremely dominant RB19.
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen enjoyed incredible success in 2023, winning his third consecutive World Championship in a record-breaking season for the Dutchman. Verstappen achieved the feat with his longtime team Red Bull, leading them to a second Constructors’ title in a row.
McLaren challenged the Milton Keyes-based team near the tail end of the season, but a substandard first half left them unable to make an imprint in the standings. Team principal Andrea Stella claimed that Verstappen could not match his success with Red Bull in the MCL60 due to the inferior machinery.
Even an excellent driver like Verstappen can only do what the material allows him to do. The combination of Verstappen and Red Bull is faster than we are at the moment. We have to beat them. Red Bull is good enough to make that performance possible. With our car, it is impossible, with any driver in the car, to be as fast as Red Bull in the second part of stintsAndrea Stella said, as reported by RacingNews365
McLaren saw improvement significantly after introducing upgrades at the Austrian Grand Prix. The team will carry its momentum into the 2024 season when the teams are tipped to converge in terms of performance.
Max Verstappen admits he has to adjust to Red Bull cars
Max Verstappen has won 34 races in the past two years, with results boosted by Red Bull’s vehicles designed by Adrian Newey. The RB19 and RB20 won a combined total of 38 races in just 44 starts, both cars setting multiple records.
Despite this success, Verstappen has admitted that these cars have a learning period. The 26-year-old mentioned that as he prefers a car with more grip, but adapts to whatever machine he is given to maximize his results.
What do I want? I want more grip. There’s a lot of things that you want, some things are not realistic. So, I just adapt to the car that I get given.Max Verstappen said, as reported by RacingNews365
Verstappen will go into 2024 undefeated for three years straight, in the prime of his talent and an extremely promising RB20 to pilot. The Red Bull driver will do everything he can to do what Sebastian Vettel did more than a decade ago in 2013, win four championships in a row with Red Bull.
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Tejaswi Giridhar
(95 Articles Published)