McLaren using unbeaten Vettel 2013 run as inspiration in F1 championship chase

McLaren has revealed it is deriving inspiration from Sebastian Vettel in 2013 with the target to win all the races past the summer break in the 2024 Formula 1 season.

The Woking-based squad returned with an emphatic showing at Zandvoort as Lando Norris turned pole position into a dominant 22-second win over Max Verstappen.

McLaren has become recognised as a genuine contender to Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship and the gap is down to 30 points as Oscar Piastri was fourth.

With Norris setting the biggest winning margin this season with an upgraded car, McLaren boss Andrea Stella has stated it holds ambitions to win the last eight races.

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Stella has divulged that the team has discussed Vettel’s nine-race unbeaten run to close out the 2013 campaign as it strives to clinch a first championship since 2008.

“I think in the Constructors’ Championship the game was on even before this event,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.

“On the Drivers’ Championship [Norris is still 70 points behind Verstappen] we definitely wanted to keep our head and our focus on the fact that it was possible.

“We even talked and looked at what Vettel did in 2013 and we said we may do the same, why not?

“We need to keep the focus, we need to think this is possible. I have to say today is very encouraging from a performance point of view.

“At the same time it happens at a track, like we said yesterday, that seems to be just very suitable for our car, like Hungary was.

“Even after Hungary we said, ‘ah, it’s going to be P1, P2 every race’, but it’s not. It just seems to be very track-dependent at the moment.

“But today was definitely beyond expectations, including yesterday, in terms of qualifying performance, in terms of race performance.

“And to some extent even the tyre degradation was very good to the point that Lando scored the fastest lap of the race at the last lap.”

However, Stella has warned it would be unwise to dismiss Red Bull’s threat when the F1 circus returns to higher-speed circuits that suit the RB20’s inherent strengths.

Asked whether he thinks the balance has shifted towards McLaren with its latest updates, Stella replied: “I’m not so sure in terms of relative competitiveness.

“I think if we go to tracks which belong to this kind of family of tracks, then I think we can be confident that we will perform strongly. Like high downforce, long corners.

“If we go to tracks where you have very high-speed corners like in Silverstone, then we know Red Bull, they are very strong in this kind of layout.

“And still, I think if we go back to Austria, they will be faster. Because in Austria they pulled off like a four-tenths advantage in qualifying.

“But I think thanks to the upgrades now we will be more competitive even where Red Bull were faster than us potentially. It’s not easy to see.

“I think in a way we missed the opportunity to see in Belgium who would have been the fastest car in dry condition because of the qualifying in intermediate tyres.

“But we think that the car in the current configuration is possibly not enough in terms of the performance required to be the best car at every single event.

“That’s why we plan to deliver more upgrades before the end of the season.”