McLaren boss Andrea Stella has stressed the team must “raise the bar” in Formula 1 in 2025 to contend for both titles amid the recent gains that its rivals have made.
The Woking-based squad heads into the last round in Abu Dhabi this weekend tipped to end a drought in the Constructors’ Championship that stretches back to 1998.
McLaren missed out on the chance to seal the deal in Qatar last weekend, but it remains in the driving seat to secure the crown as it holds a 21-point lead over Ferrari.
However, Ferrari’s resurgence since recovering from a mid-season setback due to a mishap in development has seen it outscore McLaren in four of the last five races.
Meanwhile, both Mercedes and Red Bull have returned to competitiveness in recent times to take more recent race victories than McLaren’s last triumph in Singapore.
But while McLaren is tipped to go into 2025 billed as the team to beat, Stella has admitted the championship leaders can’t stand still should it wish to challenge again.
“I think it’s fair to say that, given that at the time we talk, we are P1 in the Constructors’ and we are in the quest to try and win it, plus P2 in the Drivers’ Championship and we are in an upward trajectory, it’s fair to say that we want to tackle 2025 season, trying to win both,” Stella said.
“Three months ago, I would say we are in a really strong trajectory compared to our competitors. But, and this is something that we have repeatedly said internally at McLaren, let’s look at what Ferrari have been able to do: responding to some wobbles in the middle of the season, delivering a large amount of performance.
“And now they’ve had, in our knowledge, I think, the fastest car over the last few races of the season.
“Let’s look at how much Red Bull have been able to keep delivering, even when the car wasn’t necessarily the fastest car.
“And let’s look at what Mercedes have been able to do in Vegas and occasionally delivering incredible performance, reliability and operations and so on.
“So the trajectory we’ve been having is kind of not enough if we want to genuinely be a contender in 2025 in both championships.
“This is the time not to be happy with our trajectory. This is the time to say that the level, the bar, needs to be raised.”
McLaren considers title importance
Regardless, McLaren will have unfinished business in 2025 as several mistakes this season saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen take the Drivers’ title with two races to go.
Despite insisting that McLaren prioritised the Constructors’ Championship, Stella has acknowledged that is the championship that is most coveted outside the teams.
Asked which title he preferred to win, Stella replied: “It is a very difficult question because it’s like one of those where you have: who is your preferred child? They are all the same.
“I think people tend to remember the Drivers’ Championship more than the Constructors’ and I think in itself, potentially, the Drivers’ Championship is the ultimate that you want to achieve.
“But I think, and I’m already kind of committed to have made a preference, which I said I wouldn’t, that this needs to be considered, though, within a timeline and a chronology.
“And if I think about the trajectory of McLaren, I think for where we are at the moment, the Constructors’ Championship is just an unbelievable quest, because obviously it’s something that we can compete for, but there’s still quite a long way to go. And it’s just fantastic to be in this quest.
“It’s interesting that when I talked at multiple times with the drivers during the season, Lando himself, he felt that for where we are, for our trajectory as a team, the Constructors’ is more important now, like this is kind of the foundation you want to confirm and build if that makes sense.
“I always found it interesting this feedback from the drivers. They felt like we are building something together.
“So let’s put this milestone on the ground, and then once things are in place, we can go for the Drivers” [title].”
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