Andrea Stella: US GP heat can give McLaren way to beat Max Verstappen

McLaren Formula 1 team boss Andrea Stella says Max Verstappen’s Austin sprint pole confirms Red Bull can now win everywhere, but in the Texas heat the Italian still thinks McLaren has an ace up its sleeve.

In sprint qualifying McLaren’s Lando Norris led Max Verstappen in the first two qualifying segments run on medium tyres. But in the final top 10 pole decider on softs Verstappen managed to pip Norris to pole by 0.071s for Saturday’s shorter race, with championship leader Oscar Piastri further adrift in third.

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For McLaren, it serves as further confirmation that Red Bull is really back on form, but also that the Woking-based squad itself has stabilised its performance after a run of more difficult circuits for its MCL39 car.

“I think this is actually a relatively genuine representation of the competitive field being very close at the top,” team principal Stella told Sky Sports F1. “It confirms that Red Bull have definitely improved their car. They are competitive now and can fight for victories and pole position on every kind of circuit.

“It’s also positive to see that our car here is competitive compared to some other venues in which we struggled a little bit.

“It’s not the result we wanted – we are here for pole positions, obviously – but I think it’s a good foundation for the sprint race tomorrow and also a good foundation to see where we can finetune the performance a little bit and give it another go at the pole position tomorrow.”

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With ambient temperatures of over 30C and track temperatures heading north of 40C, Stella thinks Austin’s Circuit of the Americas is one of those demanding circuits where McLaren’s ability to keep is trye wear and temperature under control can prove key to defeat Verstappen over the course of the Texan weekend.

“Here in Austin we should observe more tyre degradation,” he said. “The conditions are very hot. I think we come from races where it was a little bit of a procession because there wasn’t much tyre degradation.

“I would expect here that the race or the sprint may be more entertaining and there could be more variability based on the behaviour of the tyres. Normally our car is decent when there is tyre degradation.”

Given Red Bull’s resurgence Norris was also not too disheartened by being pipped to the post by Verstappen, saying “it’s not a surprise for us to be just a bit slower than the Red Bull lately”.

“We struggled the whole year with our qualifying pace, especially when it’s close,” he added. “That’s why I think I would say not surprised. But we have more hopes for the race that we can get back ahead. Normally our race pace is a bit better.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

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Piastri cut a more frustrated figure after an uncharacteristically messy qualifying session, already losing his sprint pole bid in sector one as he ended up shipping three tenths to Norris and four to Verstappen.

“A pretty scruffy lap, to be honest, I just didn’t really get it together,” the championship leader admitted. “In some ways I feel a bit fortunate to be third.

“But I think the pace in the car is good and it’s not like it’s been a disastrous day at all. Just been a little bit of a messy lap that I can hopefully tidy up for tomorrow.”