McLaren boss backs Charles Leclerc & Lewis Hamilton “to be a contender for victories” this season

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has backed Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to claim race victories this season. The 54-year-old detailed that the duo, alongside Max Verstappen, cannot be counted out, despite his team’s dominance through the 2025 campaign so far.

The McLaren team has largely dominated the first 14 races of the current campaign, albeit with sporadic upsets from rivals. The Woken-based outfit have won 11 of the 14 races contested so far, with Verstappen, among the several drivers on the grid, having been able to clinch victory from the team of their grasp.

Lewis Hamilton also claimed a Sprint race victory, while George Russell also claimed a win at the Canadian Grand Prix. However, despite the strong hold the papaya team has on the 2025 campaign, Stella expects a closer battle with several teams for the final 10 races of the season.

Sharing his thoughts during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, the Italian motorsports executive, speaking as quoted by Autosport, stated:

“Ferrari has been competitive over the last few races,” Stella said after the Hungarian GP. “They were competitive in dry in Silverstone, they were competitive in Belgium. Somehow, this wasn't expressed fully....So, I'm not surprised. I think Ferrari is going to be a contender for victories for the remainder of the season.’’

“Anytime we go racing for the second part of the season, we will have to take into account that in qualifying and in the race, we will have to deal with Ferrari, we will have to deal with Mercedes, and today Max was a bit out of contention, but Max, I'm sure, will find a way to fight for victories,” he added.

Formula 1 currently enters its mid-season break with several drivers and teams hoping for a strong finish to the final rounds of the 2025 campaign. The Ferrari team, on their part, have their sights set on a statement recovery, and both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will aim to record better race results when the campaign resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.

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Lewis Hamilton sends message to rivals ahead of second half of F1 season

While Andrea Stella has indeed detailed that he expects several teams to be in the running for victories in the second half of the campaign, Lewis Hamilton has fired a warning to rivals following his outing at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The British driver who endured a torrid race at the Budapest circuit detailed that the fight is far from over and that him not to be counted out yet. Sharing his thoughts as captured by the Scuderia Ferrari official website, the seven-time champion stated:

“It’s been a challenging weekend and one to move on from. We weren’t able to make the progress we hoped for but I’m grateful for the effort everyone in the team put in throughout the weekend. Now we head into the break. I’ll be using the time to reset, recharge, and come back stronger. I’m not where I want to be yet, but the fight’s not over - don’t count me out.”

Lewis Hamilton historically is known to often be at his best during the second half of the Formula 1 season. The former Mercedes driver has a habit of bouncing back from whatever difficulty he might have encountered through the first half of the campaign. The 40-year-old will surely be aiming to replicate this when the F1 season resumes at the end of August.