F1 News
Stella fears for exceptional Verstappen: 'He's mega then'
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start the Australian Grand Prix from P1 and P2, respectively. However, team principal Andrea Stella is not entirely confident due to the weather forecast for Sunday's Grand Prix. In dry conditions, as shown in qualifying, he is confident in the McLaren's pace, but in the rain, there is a different danger.
"I think we haven't seen necessarily enough to say that we have improved the interaction with the tyres in terms, for instance, of temperature control, because we have been only in Bahrain, and here we've only done qualifying," Stella told GPblog and others after qualifying in Australia.
Stella continued, highlighting how the team's data looks good in dry conditions: "But so far, let's say that, the data we have acquired and also the behaviour of the car seems to prove that some focus that we have put in this area, may be paying off. In terms of, this characteristic of the car in wet conditions, effectively, we will have to see again."
Stella unsure how the McLaren will fair in the rain
After qualifying, the McLaren team will be preparing well for the different possible scenarios: "I think the general principles and rules, that are valid for dry, they apply also in wet conditions. But, as part of the preparation for the race, certainly, we will discuss internally even more with Lando, Oscar, and the other engineers bringing their contribution to see how and what we need to finalise."
"We need to adjust. We need to clarify, taking into account that the scenario or the various scenarios with which may face will have, extra variables to what we might have discussed so far, which was predominantly for dry conditions. So conversations, will definitely happen, and we will see based on the points that are raised, how we can wrap all this up and be ready to go racing," Stella explained.
Verstappen will be a big threat in the rain
The McLaren team boss realises that in the rain, Max Verstappen will be a big threat, who sits behind Norris and Piastri in P3: "You make a comment about, Max. For me, the only thing I can say about Max in wet condition is that he's mega. So, I think he has shown what quality he can express when the preconditions are prohibitive, like in the wet. So we know that despite today, we had a good result. In wet conditions, Max can be a significant threat."
The 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix saw a lot of rain, and while McLaren struggled in these conditions at the time, Verstappen drove a stunning race. According to Stella, the team has made the necessary adjustments to be better in the rain now. "But to be honest, my focus is to make sure that we offer Lando and Oscar a car that is fully, still retains high potential even in wet. When we were in Brazil, we had a couple of things on the car that made it a bit more difficult than ideal to drive, and this ended up for Oscar and Lando, causing some little underperformance here and there. So we learned something from that experience, and hopefully, for tomorrow, we will capitalise," Stella concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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