25/09/2024
NEWS STORY
Andrea Stella believes that rivals are so focussed on the legality of the MCL38's rear wing that they are not concentrating on their own cars.
Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix saw a dominant performance from Lando Norris, while teammate Oscar Piastri was once again able to join him, as the McLaren steamroller continues to gather pace.
At Mercedes Toto Wolff described the evening as "painful", while Fred Vasseur admitted that Ferrari's problems began on Saturday, and though Max Verstappen held on to second, his team conceded a further 21 precious points to its title rival.
Speaking on Saturday, after McLaren had said that it would modify its rear wing, Helmut Marko suggested that the FIA should now switch its attention to the front wing on the MCL38.
Andrea Stella believes that his team's rivals focus on the McLaren's legality is distracting them from concentrating on their own cars, thereby allowing the Woking team to press home its increasing advantage.
"For us, making changes is pretty much transparent, so we may as well do it," said of the decision to quieten the baying mob by modifying the wing.
"It won't be a big consequence from a performance point of view," he insisted.
"Personally, as the principal of McLaren, I find that so much attention on our rear wing is just good news because it means that opponents are not focusing on themselves," he added, referring to the distraction caused by the wing a "red herring".
"Formula 1 is such a marginal game," he continued, "it's so complicated. When I see that there's so much attention from other teams, it means that they will be doing work, they will be doing analysis, they will be talking to the FIA.
"However, there's limited time and limited energy. They're using this time and energy to chase something that I think is a red herring. So for me, as McLaren, that's just good news."
With a 41 point advantage in the battle for the constructors' title, Stella insists that both titles are up for grabs.
"Definitely the drivers' championship is still on, the mission is on," he said.