McLaren boss Andrea Stella is confident that the team will be able to improve on its underwhelming performance from last year’s Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Woking-based squad, amid its resurgence which saw it claim the Constructors’ Championship last year, suffered a tricky downturn in form in Sin City.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished sixth and seventh at the glittering night race, closer to the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in eighth than winner George Russell.
The MCL38 suffered increased graining on its tyres, despite already developing a nous for tyre management, for which its successor, the MCL39, is now known.
Stella acknowledged Las Vegas is somewhat a bogey track for McLaren, an unwanted position anyway, but more so with both Norris and Piastri lead contenders for the Drivers’ title.
“Vegas, if anything, has proven to be a challenge for McLaren overall,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “Last year, we were not competitive.
“We needed to learn something, if anything, during the race, just to try and make some changes to see if we could stop the graining.
“This year, the tyres, they do grain much less than last year, so it could be a slightly different Vegas from this point of view. It will be interesting to see.”
McLaren eager to extract car’s full potential in Vegas
McLaren has struggled on some of the faster street circuits this year, which may, on paper, put it at a disadvantage going into this weekend’s race.
But Stella is confident that it will maximise the most of the car in Vegas, and make up for not only last year, but the times it has failed to do so this year.
“I think for Lando and Oscar, there’s no problem in terms of track layout coming in the next four races,” he said.
“If anything, we need to make sure that from a McLaren point of view, we are in condition to extract the full performance that is available in the car.
“We have some reservations that at a few of the previous races, we have actually been able to do.”
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