Andrea Stella has warned McLaren fans to “not assume” that they will have the quickest car at the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
With McLaren already crowned constructors’ champions and Lando Norris heading Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings by a single point after the Brit’s victory in Mexico, Team Principal – Stella is “proud” that his two drivers lead the championship with four rounds left.
Stella however warned in McLaren’s race weekend preview that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen can’t be written off given his form since the summer break with four wins across six Grands Prix and one sprint race, which has seen the reigning four-time champion cut his title deficit down to 36 points.
“We’re proud to have our two drivers leading the Championship, separated by only one point. However, we’re fully aware that we have a very strong opponent in our quest for the Drivers’ title, and it’s no coincidence that he is the reigning Champion and a four-time World Champion.”
Looking ahead to the Sao Paulo GP at Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Stella warned fans not to expect them to be the quickest car like in Mexico with expectation that Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes will be right up there in the mix, but vowed to extract maximum performance.
“In Mexico City, the MCL39 was the fastest car, but we must not assume it will be the same in São Paulo, as the competition around us is very tight. We’ll stick to our mindset of taking it race by race and extracting as much performance as possible to give our drivers the chance to fight for top positions.”
Sao Paulo also marks the penultimate sprint weekend of the season with Stella admitting that focus will be immediately on finding the ideal car set-up, knowing that a maximum individual haul of 33 points can achieved if either Norris or Piastri were to do the sprint and race victory double.
“This is also a Sprint weekend, which gives us more opportunities to score points. At the same time, we’ll need even greater attention to detail to find the right car set-up, especially given the limited amount of Free Practice running. As usual in São Paulo, we’ll be prepared to face the unpredictability of the weather, which has often been a decisive factor here.”