McLaren boss Andrea Stella explained that Max Verstappen’s superb pole position lap for Formula 1‘s British Grand Prix confirms that it would be “naive” to discount him at any stage.
The Dutchman seemed firmly out of contention on Saturday afternoon, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ only challengers seemingly being both Ferraris.
But the Red Bull powered its way through the Silverstone circuit under Verstappen’s control, and he duly grabbed top spot by a tenth of a second from Piastri in second, with Norris third.
A longstanding theme of the 2025 season so far has been the McLaren camp’s insistence that Verstappen is never out of the title race until it is mathematically impossible, and Stella believes his unlikely pole is a vindication of that stance.
“The reason why we never rule out Max is because he is Max Verstappen, and it would be extremely naive to think that Max is not in the game,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I think he gave another sort of bit of evidence today of how quick he is, how capable he is of maximising the potential that he has available.”
Stella: Verstappen pole ‘no surprise’ given Red Bull capabilities on fast circuits
Norris, who will line up third for his home race, said that McLaren “always seem to lose out to Max and the Red Bull” on tracks with high-speed corner profiles, the Japanese Grand Prix in April being a notable example.
Stella concurred with Norris’ assertion that the RB21 appears to utilise an advantage on this sort of circuit, saying it was not a shock that Verstappen managed to grab pole as a result.
“We also know that in these kind of tracks where we have high speed, smooth circuits, Red Bull can do very well,” he said.
“So no surprise with Max, no surprise with Red Bull. It looks like a deserved pole position, and it looks like Max, based on the lap times he could do on Friday, that were competitive in high fuel, it looks like he is a very serious candidate to win the British Grand Prix.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen shocks McLarens with superb F1 British GP pole position
