McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has pushed back against speculation that the team’s F1 car is the dominant force in the sport. Despite Max Verstappen’s win at Suzuka, where Red Bull was on a run of form, McLaren remains favored to take top spots this weekend.
Stella said the margins between teams are small and that McLaren has been consistent but not dominating. “I think the margins are very small…we’re very grounded people, we’re very calm,” Stella said. “We’re not going to [take] this kind of bait.”
The talk of dominance has led to rumors about McLaren exploiting aero-elasticity to boost straightline performance. However, Stella denied that the team had become complacent and was caught out by its rivals.
Instead, Stella emphasized that the team’s focus is on capitalizing on the full performance of its car, rather than relying on others’ mistakes. “We know if we don’t capitalise on the full performance of the car then we will be beaten,” she said. “These are the conversations that happen within the team.”
The comments come as rival teams have been accused of engaging in gamesmanship to gain an advantage over McLaren. Stella’s words suggest that the team is taking a level-headed approach, focusing on its own strengths and weaknesses rather than getting caught up in speculation about others’ performance.
Source: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-team-boss-plays-down-talk-of-teams-dominance/10712073