Like the old days? McLaren boss admits Ferrari is coming back into the fray
F1 seems to be re-entering a remix of it's 'greatest hits': Ferrari Vs McLaren. At least that is what can be reduced from the words of the British team.
In Hungary, McLaren's pace seemed uncontested and unchallenged. Until Charles Leclerc, driver for the Scuderia who's racked up 5 podiums this season so far, blindsided the Woking-based outfit snatching pole in the dying moments of qualifying from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
The next day during the race, Leclerc was able to successfully defend his pole position at the start and maintain the lead for the first two stints of the race.
When asked, after the race, which due to issues in Leclerc's Ferrari SF-25 resulted in a Norris-led McLaren 1-2, if he was surprised by Ferrari's pace, Stella gave a candid reply, as usual.
Stella not surprised by Ferrari in 'not holding back' claim
"Not surprised, because Ferrari have been competitive over the last few races.
"They were competitive in the rain in Silverstone, they were competitive in Belgium. Somehow this wasn't expressed fully.
"I think we saw yesterday that they were in condition to score the pole position."
Stella then reflects on the race and admits Piastri was holding nothing back when in pursuit of Leclerc.
"And today, it's not like in the first stint we were holding back.
"We were trying to go as fast as possible and Leclerc was managing the lead of the race with some degree of control. So I'm not surprised.
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