F1 News: McLaren Chief Delivers Surprising Max Verstappen Verdict After Las Vegas GP

Saajan Jogia | Nov 25, 2024

Nov 23, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen (1) celebrates his championship victory following the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has called Max Verstappen one of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1 after he clinched his fourth championship title in Las Vegas by building a significant lead of 63 points over Lando Norris in the Drivers' Standings.

Stella acknowledged the tough competition McLaren presented to Red Bull this season, with McLaren now leading the Constructors' Championship. However, he went on to praise Verstappen for staying strong in the battle, despite a challenging season where his RB20 F1 car was plagued by balance issues, a stark contrast to the smooth sailing the Dutchman enjoyed in 2023. Speaking to the media after a cold race on the Strip, Stella said:

“Let me express my congratulations to Max Verstappen for four world championships in a row.

“I think this title confirms that Max is one of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1 and it’s almost an important one for him because, possibly in the past like last year, people might have thought that it’s easy to win races when you have the best car, but it’s never easy to win so consistently.

“There are always so many reasons why things can go wrong, and I think, already last year, they were operating – driver and team – at a very high level.”

He added:

“This year, when often he didn’t have the best car, but what he could extract from weekends in which he didn’t have the best material confirms that we are in the era of Max Verstappen in these last few years and he deserves what he is achieving."

Stella also praised McLaren's progress this season and commended Norris for his determination in the championship battle. He highlighted how the Briton quickly learned from his mistakes and demonstrated that he could battle for the top spot if given a potent car. He added:

“If we remove the first few races of the season before we deliver the Miami upgrades, then we see that we have a trajectory from a Drivers’ Championship point of view that means that Lando could compete with Max.

“This is one of the unthinkable achievements that we have to positively acknowledge at McLaren and, when I say unthinkable, unthinkable thinking of where we were only 18 months ago.

“At the same time, while being part of this quest, I think we have learned many things. We have learned as a team. We have learned how to win races. We have also learned that, sometimes, competing to win races, you need to adjust the way you approach racing.

“Definitely this season, we have had some situations like Canada and Silverstone in which we could have won the race, or Monza, and we got important learning as a team.

“If we look at Lando’s adaptations of competing, even wheel to wheel with Max, I think, from where he was in Austria to where he was in Austin, and just the week after in Mexico, he learned so quickly.

“I’m very proud of how rapidly Lando is picking up from the situations that he experiences on track and, to some extent, even off track, to become a better and better driver.

“I’m not sure this is acknowledged enough externally, for some reason, the more acknowledgment towards what are the missed opportunities, rather than recognising that Lando is on an extremely strong trajectory, and he was in condition once McLaren offered material that can win races to keep the pace of Verstappen.”