McLaren boss Andrea Stella has expressed that his team will be “hit by reality” should it take for granted that it will be faster in Qatar than Formula 1 title rivals Ferrari.
The Woking-based squad goes into the remaining two rounds with a 24-point lead over Ferrari as both teams aim to end a championship drought dating back to 2008.
Ferrari’s late-season resurgence since the autumn break continued at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend as it outscored McLaren for the third time in four events.
However, the expectation that the Italian marque’s SF-24 would prove to be the car to beat didn’t materialise as Mercedes emerged as the surprise pacesetting squad.
George Russell heading a Mercedes 1-2 with team-mate Lewis Hamilton prevented Ferrari from collecting a greater points total to cut more into McLaren’s advantage.
With the cold conditions prevalent in Las Vegas exposing the limitations of McLaren’s package, Stella admitted that Mercedes’ intervention helped the team’s title bid.
“Well, it’s disappointing that we lost 12 points in the championship,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week post-race.
“But at the same time, considering how much we struggled this weekend, somehow we really have to thank Mercedes for having performed so strong and secured the P1-P2 position.
“Otherwise, Ferrari would have been an even bigger threat in the Constructors’ Championship.”
Stella warns McLaren against Qatar complacency
McLaren has been tipped to place a potential hand on the title this weekend as the Lusail International Circuit‘s high-speed layout appears tailor-made for the MCL38.
But Stella has warned that the close competitiveness at the sharp end ensures that McLaren can’t assume the suspicion it will have an edge over Ferrari will transpire.
“It’s true and I’ve said myself that Qatar and Abu Dhabi should be a territory that is more suitable for the way we have designed our car,” the Italian continued.
“But at the same time, I think we need to be careful that the level of the top teams in Formula 1 in 2024, in my view, even this one is unprecedented.
“I really can’t remember a season in Formula 1 where four teams were operating at such a high level.
“Not only because they are in condition to win, but they are in condition to dominate like Mercedes did here with faultless weekends.
“This means for me, this means for the team, that yes, we go to Qatar thinking that the car may perform well. But if we think that this is an easy ride, we will be hit by the reality.
“So we go there knowing that we need to maximise the potential of the car.
“If we do that, then certainly from a track layout point of view, the car should spend quite a lot of time where it’s been designed to perform.
“I would expect Ferrari, certainly even Red Bull, Mercedes, I think they will have got quite a lot of information from this weekend as well to be in condition to win in Qatar.
“So it’s a very interesting, much more than I would have liked, final part of the season. I always try to get things to be boring, but that’s not the case.”
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