Andrea Stella’s latest Max Verstappen comment highlights how worried McLaren are about Red Bull

Follow us on Google Discover

McLaren wrapped up the constructors’ championship for the second consecutive season at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Andrea Stella has led McLaren expertly from the pit wall, with the constructors’ championship secured with six race weekends remaining.

Only once in Formula 1’s history has a team won the championship as early in the season.

It won’t be a surprise to many fans that Red Bull also achieved this feat in 2023, led by Max Verstappen on the way to his third individual title.

Now that the constructors’ championship has been wrapped up, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris can fully focus on trying to win their first individual title.

Piastri has a 22-point lead over his teammate, with Verstappen lurking 63 points behind the Australian.

The 28-year-old has outscored both McLaren drivers since the summer break, and while it would be one of the biggest comebacks in F1 history, Stella’s latest comments suggest he’s not sure Verstappen is out of contention just yet.

READ MORE: Ralf Schumacher has seen Andrea Stella look ‘tense’ due to McLaren issue he does not ‘understand’

Andrea Stella admits Max Verstappen is ‘always there’ ahead of 2025 F1 title battle

Stella was asked at a family and friends day at the McLaren factory what the plan is for the rest of the season now that the constructors’ championship has been won, and he said: “Well the constructors has been wrapped up as you say and has also been achieved in a way that I just want to remember with a little bit of pride that I hope you all share.

“Six races to go, which is really remarkable. Double the points of the second [team], 650 points, 325 [points] the second. So that’s been, I have to say, beyond what we would have expected, and this is thanks to everyone in the team, thanks to Lando and Oscar.

“But now, we don’t give up. We certainly don’t take our foot off the accelerator pedal.

“We have the driver’s championship. The objective is to finish P1 and P2, push back Verstappen, who is always there. Whatever you do, he is always there. So yeah, that’s the mission.

“And also, there’s a mission that will come soon in 2026. This is possibly even a bigger challenge to continue this success into 2026 when there are changes in regulations, and the work is happening now as we speak.”

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

How worried about Max Verstappen should Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris be?

Norris and Piastri only need to speak to Lewis Hamilton if they want to learn how difficult it is to shake Verstappen off when he feels he’s got a chance of winning a championship.

Verstappen’s 2021 campaign gives him all the experience he needs to put pressure on two drivers with a points advantage, particularly as Norris and Piastri have never been in this position before in Formula 1.

Piastri won back-to-back championships on his way to Formula 1 and will need to call on that experience, but Norris hasn’t won a title since his 2017 Formula 3 title.

Verstappen and Piastri share similar traits on the track, but his mistakes throughout the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend would have set off a few alarm bells at McLaren.

Norris appears to be in a better place compared to the start of the season, and his aggressiveness to squeeze past Piastri at the beginning of the race in Singapore could be seen as a turning point.

However, if Verstappen ends the United States Grand Prix standing on the top step of the podium, then Stella might be forced to take Guenther Steiner’s advice and back one of his drivers over the other.