Stella backs up ‘capital yes’ comments on Verstappen’s title chances as he stresses McLaren drivers ‘cannot afford errors’

Andrea Stella has reiterated his belief that Max Verstappen is “definitely” in contention for the Drivers’ title following the Dutchman’s back-to-back victories in Monza and Baku, with the McLaren boss admitting that his drivers “cannot afford errors” as they battle against the four-time World Champion.

After Verstappen clinched a commanding pole last time out at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Stella answered “a firm yes” when asked if he believed that the Red Bull driver was a serious contender for the crown, the Italian also emphasising that his response to the question should be written “in capitals”.

With Verstappen then going on to triumph in Sunday’s race at the Baku City Circuit – on a weekend that proved more challenging for McLaren – Stella referred back to his comments as he reflected on the 28-year-old’s title prospects.

“I used the capital letters already… We’re talking about Max Verstappen, we're talking about Red Bull,” Stella commented after the race, with Verstappen having brought the gap to championship leader Oscar Piastri down to 69 points.

“We have already seen in Monza that they improved. They seem to have made an improvement with their car, because the way they won Monza was something more for what was our assessment than simply a car that adapts well at low drag.

“They were fast in the corners, medium-speed and low-speed corners, fast in the straights, and we know that Max, when he has a competitive car, can deliver strong weekends. Conversely, we also knew that... Baku for us would have been a difficult circuit.

“So we will see now in Singapore, which should be more of a one in which we should perform well – hopefully we can go back to fighting for victories, and then we will see how the rest of the championship will unfold. But definitely, Max is in the contention for the Drivers’ Championship. We knew it, and we got confirmation.”

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix brought contrasting fortunes for McLaren and Red Bull. On the papaya squad’s side, Piastri crashed out of the running on Lap 1 while Lando Norris was unable to make ground from P7.

Over at Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda brought home his strongest result of the season so far by taking P6, adding to the team’s points haul alongside Verstappen’s victory.

Pushed on how important it was for his drivers and the team to avoid errors should Red Bull continue to pose more of a challenge, Stella responded: “When you race in Formula 1, when you race at the top of Formula 1 and, like I said before, the competition is so tight, simply you cannot afford errors in any case, because there will be your contenders that are ready to take advantage.

“And this before might have been Mercedes, like in Canada, Max, like at the start of the season. We don't have to forget that Red Bull won the two races at the start of the season [in Suzuka and Imola]. And then, if anything, they kind of slipped back in terms of performance, and now they seem like they find their way back.

“But they were in contention for victories already at the start of the season. For us, considering especially the Drivers’ Championship, certainly the margins to error reduce furthermore, but this is always the ethos when you're racing Formula 1.

“Hopefully some of the inaccuracies and issues have accumulated in this weekend, because in this weekend, we have to remember that not only we didn't have a fast enough car, but we also had some reliability issues that cost Oscar some time during practice.

“Therefore, [there is] quite a lot to take away for the drivers, but also for the team.”