McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella tackles the question of whether they stand a chance to win the F1 2024 Championship

The McLaren squad carried out one of the greatest comebacks in the season after sustaining a disappointing start to the season. The team overcame the massive slump and finally finished an impressive P4 in the constructor’s cup. However, Andrea Stella raised uncertainty over the performance of the next season.

The Italian team principle Andrea Stella was quizzed over McLaren’s chances of winning in the following season. However, Stella displayed unsurety over the winning chances for the Woking-based constructors of McLaren. He added that the team needs half a second lead in order to be able to score a victory with ease. Stella also talked about the development of other teams on the grid and how McLaren needs to seriously work on the car.

Realistically speaking, we know that we need half a second if we want to remain competitive next season. That means: Because the other teams are also developing, McLaren has to find half a second over the winter, according to Stella, just to maintain the status quo and not be overtaken by the other teams.

Stella said, as reported by Motorsport-Total (H&T: @JunaidSamodien_/X).

The 52-year-old subsequently claimed that the team must not raise false expectations over the winning chances for the team as reality would later hit them hard. Meanwhile, at the same time, Stella did not want to downplay the winning chances for the team either and realize later that they weren’t capable of fighting at the front of the pack.

We mustn't raise false expectations, because then reality will come at us with full force. And we don't want to find ourselves in this situation. At the same time, we don't want to downplay [our chances] too much and then realize that we weren't ready to fight at the front and therefore didn't make good decisions.

Andrea Stella also exclaimed that Lando Norris was too harsh on himself

The team principle also commented over the driver’s lineup and their performances in the race. Stella talked about Lando Norris in particular as the British driver is yet to score his maiden victory in Formula 1. He exclaimed that Norris deserved attention purely due to the fact that he was always too harsh on himself during races. He later added that you need to focus on the positives as well.

Stella also highlighted the positives of Norris’ performance and wanted to ensure that he looked into that and not just the negatives. The Italian boss was complimentary of the young driver as he asked Norris to make the negatives in a way to be functional to perform and not just simply to punish himself.

Hence, after a successful stint in 2023 and finishing P4 in the constructors, the team now aims to scoring more victories in the coming season. As Lando Norris is also all set to finally score his maiden victory in the following season. The crew has also showcased optimism over its fighting chances with the front runners on the grid.

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