McLaren: Ferrari upgrade makes for “interesting” rest…

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes Ferrari’s latest upgrades will add lasting intrigue into the Formula 1 championship battle, even if it could not convert its newfound performance into a British Grand Prix pole.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had been strong throughout the weekend, having set the pace in FP1, FP3 and Q2, only for both Ferrari drivers to fall short in the top 10 shootout on Saturday - Hamilton fifth and Leclerc sixth at Silverstone.

Instead, a stunning last-gasp lap from reigning world champion Max Verstappen saw the Red Bull claim pole ahead of the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris respectively.

This comes after a considerable floor upgrade for the Scuderia, and Stella believes Ferrari, which is yet to win a grand prix this year, has shown enough improvements to potentially fight at the front for the rest of 2025.

“Definitely I have to say that looking at the lap times that Ferrari have been able to pull off in every single session, Ferrari seem to be the strongest team, probably they still are the strongest team,” said Stella, when asked if his championship-leading outfit was expecting a challenge from Ferrari rather than Verstappen.

“The gaps are very small and Max also went out for the final lap in Q3 relatively a few minutes later or a minute later, and here there could be slight variation of wind that can affect one tenth here and there so everything is very tight. Difficult to say which one was the strongest team, but Ferrari definitely appeared like the most competitive.

“Even if we look at Q2 I think they were P1, P2 quite convincingly at the time, so it looks like the upgrades that they have taken to Austria seem to have worked very well, which makes the Silverstone grand prix not only interesting because of how tight the situation is at the front of the grid, but I would say also interesting for the reminder of the championship, especially with Ferrari.”

Andrea Stella, McLaren (Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 / Getty Images)

If Stella is correct, Ferrari could again be McLaren’s closest rival for the constructors’ title, having finished second to the Papaya outfit last season – a year which saw Verstappen claim his fourth consecutive drivers’ crown, despite Red Bull being outpaced for much of the second half of the campaign.

The Dutchman again rained on the parades of both McLaren and Ferrari by storming to a shock Silverstone pole – but Stella was not surprised by such an eye-catching lap from him.

“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,” said Stella.

“I think he gave another bit of evidence today of how quick he is, how capable he is of maximising the potential that he has available.

“We also know that in these kind of tracks where we have high-speed, smooth circuits, Red Bull can do very well, 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, is a very serious candidate to win the British Grand Prix.”

The British Grand Prix starts at 3pm BST on Sunday, with McLaren looking to extend its 207-point lead in the constructors’ standings with both its racers vying for the drivers’ crown.