Why McLaren saw a danger of Verstappen handing Monaco win to Leclerc

21:31, 25 May

byNorberto Mujica

Max Verstappen started the Monaco Grand Prix in P4, but due to the mandatory pitstop rules he was able to be in the lead throughout significant parts of the race, and Andrea Stella reveals the impact that the Dutchman had on their strategic decision making.

That Max Verstappen started the race on hard tyres played into McLaren's hand. “Oh, that certainly helped,” said Andrea Stella to GPblog among others.

How Verstappen Influenced McLaren's Race

“If anything today, the fact that Verstappen decided to start on the hard and then go on the medium and clearly was going for a long stint, always kept the race a little bit locked.”

Stella even pointed out that Verstappen threatened their chances at winning in Monte-Carlo, albeit if the Dutchman himself wouldn't emerge victorious himself. “Like, for instance, with Lando, we were exposed to the risk of going through the traffic because if we had pitted to avoid the traffic like Leclerc did, we would have ended up behind Verstappen.”

“Because if we had pitted to avoid the traffic, like Leclerc did, we would have ended up behind Verstappen. And Verstappen could have played with us. Possibly even to Leclerc's advantage.”

Andrea Stella, the team boss of McLaren

With Verstappen always being within eventual winner Lando Norris' pit window, he always remained a threat for the papaya team. “ So more than the fifth, which opened up relatively soon, the other problem we had was that Verstappen kept staying within our pit window for Lando. And this effectively was true until the end.”

On-track, though, it was Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who posed the biggest risk to the papaya team's hopes of winning the famed Monte-Carlo race. “But like I said before, the crucial moment today was when we managed to cover Leclerc at the second stop. Once we were ahead of Leclerc, then I think the job was pretty much done,” said Stella.