Stella claims McLaren knows how to win in Las Vegas

16:30, 18 Nov

byDrew Murphy

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes his team will be able to significantly improve on their disappointing display in last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The 2025 Constructors’ champions are hoping to put on an improved display after their lacklustre performance last year in Sin City.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could only manage sixth and seventh in 2024, finishing over 43 seconds behind the winner George Russel.

Photo: Race Pictures

Learning to stop the graining

McLaren’s main problem last year was an increased graining on its tyres.

Stella discussed McLaren’s poor form in Las Vegas and revealed how it's even more crucial to get it right this time around with Norris and Piastri battling for the Drivers’ title.

“Vegas, if anything, has proven to be a challenge for McLaren overall,” he told the media, including GPblog. “Last year, we were not competitive.

“We needed to learn something, if anything, during the race, just to try and make some changes to see if we could stop the graining.

“This year, the tyres, they do grain much less than last year, so it could be a slightly different Vegas from this point of view. It will be interesting to see.”

Are fast street circuits MCL39’s kryptonite?

The MCL39 has struggled on some of the faster street circuits this year.

The lack of long, fast corners means the car can't utilise one of its biggest strengths and the cold weather means McLaren won't benefit from its innovative cooling system.

But despite this, Stella remains confident that McLaren will make up for their performances in these street circuits.

He said: “I think for Lando and Oscar, there’s no problem in terms of track layout coming in the next four races.

Oscar Piastri. Photo: RacePictures.

“If anything, we need to make sure that from a McLaren point of view, we are in condition to extract the full performance that is available in the car.

“We have some reservations that at a few of the previous races, we have actually been able to do.”

GPblog's latest F1 Paddock Update

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.