Andrea Stella: We are focused on stability

      In Montreal, the head of the McLaren team spoke about the prepared innovations and plans for the season…

      Question: You have prepared many innovations for the races in Miami and Canada. What do the drivers say?

      Andrea Stella: It’s always good to have something to work on! We are bringing innovations to the track that should make the car faster. The first major package of updates debuted in Miami, and here in Canada we tested a new front wing and an optimized floor.

      Right now we are looking at what worked and what didn’t. The updates are quite significant, and there is some analysis work to be done, but so far we are satisfied.

      Seeing the list of innovations prepared by the teams on Friday, I was impressed – almost everyone brought new solutions. I think it will take a few races to understand how this will affect the competitive landscape.

      For McLaren, the Canadian track has previously been challenging; we’ll see how we perform this weekend, but to assess real competitiveness, we need to go through a few more races.

      Question: You are currently 86 points behind Mercedes. Do you hope to catch up?

      Andrea Stella: This season is very long; we have only had four races so far. There are at least 18 more to come. It will be a “war of updates,” as everyone has been saying since the start of the season.

      I think that for now, as in Miami, Mercedes is confidently in the lead. They brought several innovations to Canada; we’ll see how they work, but judging by the results, everything is going well for them so far.

      There is no doubt that they have a really fast car, although they are currently losing at the starts. I believe it is important for Formula 1 that the gap between teams is minimal. Obviously, we would like to try to find more speed and understand if we can challenge Mercedes.

      Question: The season of rumors has begun – there are talks about Gianpiero Lambiasse coming to your position, your move to Ferrari, and Oscar Piastri moving to Red Bull. What do you think about this?

      Andrea Stella: The key word here is rumors, and that’s how we should treat them. Speaking of Oscar, we are very pleased with him. He is happy himself – both in the car and in our team. He and Lando have a great relationship, and the team is currently in the best shape since I became its leader. We are focused on maximum stability.

      As for me, I am certainly fully committed to McLaren. I am proud that we managed to fill the stand at the base with winning trophies, so we had to order a new one. Now we need to fill that one with trophies too.

      At McLaren, we want to hire the best people in Formula 1, the best specialists, the best leaders. And the fact that Gianpiero Lambiasse decided to join McLaren once again speaks to the reliability of our team.