McLaren questions new F1 regulations, claims the Red Bull dominance has proved it isn’t restrictive enough

Andrea Stella believes Red Bull managed to show that the regulations are not as restrictive.

McLaren questions new F1 regulations, claims the Red Bull dominance has proved it isn’t restrictive enough

Lando Norris and Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing has dominated F1 since 2022. The Austrian team managed to get the most out of the new F1 regulations that came into effect last season. The new rules were created to allow a more closed-up grid with limitations that would prevent a team from going too far ahead of its rivals. However, McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella believes that the Milton-Keynes team showed that the rules are not as restrictive.

Stella confessed that F1 teams found the new ground-effect regulations rather limited in potential, as F1 prioritized better on-track action. The 52-year-old said, “I have to admit, and I think most teams should admit the same. That before the new generation of cars touched the ground, we thought that the regulations were quite restrictive.”

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However, Andrea Stella acknowledged the huge scope Red Bull and other teams have in order to exploit the performance from the floor of these new cars. A lot more than expected by the paddock. He explained, “But interestingly, as soon as you start the journey, you realize there’s a lot of performance. Especially on the floor. This ground effect can be exploited from a technical point of view beyond what I think anybody in Formula 1 would have anticipated.”

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“Premium for those who do a better job,” Andrea Stella on the new F1 rules

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Max Verstappen driving the Red Bull RB-19

The McLaren boss admitted that the complexity of these new cars “went beyond what the regulations would have expected.” Andrea Stella praised this as an outstanding development by the teams, such as reigning champions Red Bull Racing. He continued, “That’s, from a technical point of view, a fascinating journey.”

Although it didn’t take long for the 52-year-old to acknowledge the progress made by the Christian Horner-led Red Bull, Stella said, “From a spectacle point of view it means that whoever does a better job. like Red Bull is doing at the moment, can gain a consistent competitive advantage beyond what could have been anticipated.”

Although, the McLaren boss understood that if a team can gain over its rivals through effective development. Admittedly, Red Bull’s Adrian Newey is considered a genius in the paddock. Andrea Stella concluded, “So there’s technical reasons why that is, and ultimately means there’s a premium for those who do a better job than the others.”

Thus, Andrea Stella believes that the new regulations did not provide the expected results of closing up the field. Red Bull Racing managed to defy the motives of the new rules. The Milton Keynes team has been successful in gaining a massive lead over its rivals since last season. This has come at the cost of the lack of a close championship fight, that was promised through these rules.

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