Why McLaren's confidence grows despite Verstappen's closing threat
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the team has strengthened its confidence in both the car’s competitiveness and its ability to challenge for the 2025 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, despite Max Verstappen reducing the gap to just 36 points after the Mexico Grand Prix.
The confidence in terms of the championship is increased because we have proven that we have a car that can win races and in some conditions can dominate races.- Andrea Stella
Reflecting on the weekend’s performance, Stella said that McLaren’s recent form proved the MCL39 remains a race-winning package capable of dominating under the right circumstances.
“The confidence in terms of the championship is increased,” Stella said. “It’s increased because we have proven that we have a car that can win races and in some conditions can dominate races.”
He added that the team’s primary focus is maintaining competitiveness rather than relying on mathematical calculations at this stage of the season.
He continued: “This is the most important factor to put Lando and Oscar in condition to pursue the Drivers’ Championship. I don’t think it’s about mathematics, I think it’s about competitiveness and it was important to confirm this competitiveness.”
While Lando Norris reclaimed the championship lead with victory in Mexico, teammate Oscar Piastri lost points to Verstappen. Stella believes the weekend still offered valuable experience for the Australian.
“Even if he lost some points to Verstappen, I think Oscar has got a lot of learning from this weekend and that’s a sort of an investment that you make to make sure that you are competitive in every condition in the final part of the season,” he added.
Stella concluded that both the team and its drivers leave Mexico optimistic for the closing rounds of the campaign.
“Overall we, definitely team and drivers, come out of this weekend encouraged and optimistic for the final part of the season.”
Mekies denies Red Bull's focus is on the Drivers' title
Red Bull Racing’s Laurent Mekies emphasized Red Bull isn’t focused on the championship, maintaining their approach of maximizing performance each weekend and shifting attention to learning for Brazil. Verstappen remains third in the standings, 36 points behind leader Norris, with four races and two sprints remaining.
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