Stella expected more from Red Bull, but thinks Spain is a McLaren track

20:47, 31 May

byEstéban den Toom

Andrea Stella expected more from the Red Bull Racing team during the qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. Although Max Verstappen secured the third starting position for the race on Sunday, the Dutchman still lagged significantly behind the times of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who will start from P1 and P2, respectively. After the qualifying, Stella explained that he did not expect to have such a significant advantage with McLaren.

“In a way, I'm a little surprised that we had such a clear advantage, especially I would have expected Red Bull to be a little closer based on some of the similar circuit characteristics that we found in Suzuka or in Imola."

"I think in hindsight looking at the temperatures which were very high, the kind of limitations which at least for us they were mainly associated with the rear axle. And if that's the same for everyone, I think it's where our car performs very well,” Stella told GPblog among others at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Stella on McLaren's car

“If we want to be slightly more technical, one characteristic of Spain is that the corners are very long, unlike Imola, where the corners are relatively shorter."

"And I think in these long corners, the MCL39 seemed to be able to carry over some of the qualities of the predecessor, whereby last year, for instance in Zandvoort, another track with long corners, Lando dominated the weekend."

"So I think we kind of retained some of the strengths from an aerodynamic point of view, despite having improved the car, and I think overall they were rewarding in this kind of track that even if the speed range is similar to some others, but the length of the corner, I think helped us today.”

After the qualifying, Verstappen himself displayed some resignation. He mentioned that the balance was there, but not the grip – hence, it was all not optimal for the Red Bull driver.