McLaren boss shrugs off suggestions of Max Verstappen's recent form further increasing pressure on Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted that Max Verstappen’s victory in Baku has intensified the pressure on his team and drivers. Speaking to the onsite media, including Sportskeeda, after the Azerbaijan GP, the Italian stressed that in such a competitive field, both drivers and the team cannot afford further errors.

Verstappen’s recent wins in Monza and Baku came with commanding margins, 19.207 seconds over Lando Norris at Monza and 14.609 seconds over George Russell in Baku. One of the reasons for the Red Bull champion's resurgence has been the low-downforce nature of both circuits, which played to RB21's strengths, as well as the new floor introduced in Monza and subsequent setup changes that unlocked the Dutchman's pace. Stella had already cautioned before the race that the reigning champion could not be underestimated and remained a consistent threat.

After the race, Stella reflected that Red Bull and Max Verstappen had shown strong form early in the season, experienced a dip mid-year, and are now firmly back in contention. He underlined that Verstappen’s resurgence means McLaren must reduce margins of error on both the team and driver side. Costly four-second pitstops in consecutive races compromised Norris’ results, while driver mistakes denied Piastri a potential win in Baku. Reliability remains another concern, with Norris retiring at Zandvoort earlier in the season.

Stella acknowledged that McLaren lacked outright pace in Baku, but believed that the team gained valuable lessons from Verstappen’s dominant display. He stressed that refining execution, from pitstops to reliability, will be key to maximizing results in the remaining races.

Asked by Sportskeeda if the two consecutive victories of Max Verstappen were going to change the way the drivers and team operated internally, Stella replied:

“When you race in Formula 1, when you race at the top of formula one, like I said before, the competition is so tight, simply you cannot afford errors in any case. Because there will be your contenders that are ready to take advantage. And these before might have been Mercedes, like in Canada, Max, like at start of the season, we don't have to forget that Red Bull won, the two races at the start of the season. And then if anything, it's they kind of slipped back, slipped back in terms of performance, and now they seem like they find their way back. But they were in contention for victories already at the start of the season.

“For us considering, especially the Drivers Championship, certainly the margins to error reduce furthermore. But this is always the ethos when you are racing in formula 1. So hopefully, some of the inaccuracies and issues have accumulated in this weekend, because in this weekend, we have to remember that not only we didn't have a fast enough car, but we also had some reliability issues that costed Oscar some time during practice. Therefore, quite a lot to take away for the drivers, but also for the team."

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Andrea Stella declares Max Verstappen as a serious contender in 2025 driver’s championship

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella declared that the Azerbaijan GP has confirmed Max Verstappen as a serious contender for the 2025 drivers’ championship. He noted that the Dutch champion's dominant wins in Monza and Baku underlined the progress Red Bull has made with the RB21, particularly in terms of car behaviour and adaptability.

Stella admitted that the scale of Verstappen’s Monza victory went against McLaren’s own expectations and assessment. He stressed that once the four-time world champion gains confidence in the car, he consistently delivers results in commanding fashion. He added that while the Azerbaijan GP was always going to be a difficult circuit for McLaren, the team has never underestimated Verstappen’s potential as a title threat. Looking ahead, Stella expressed hope that McLaren can return to winning form at the Singapore GP. He acknowledged that the resurgence of Max Verstappen has added a new layer of intrigue to the unfolding championship battle, with the Dutchman firmly in contention for a fifth title.

When asked if the Azerbaijan GP was confirmation that Max Verstappen was a title contender, Stella said:

“Well, I used the capital letters already yesterday, so I when I said yes in capital letters, and today I think it just confirms what was the..you know, we're talking about Max Verstappen, we're talking about Red Bull. We have already seen him Monza that they improved they seem to have made an improvement with their car, cause the way they won Monza was something more for what was our assessment. That simply a card adapts well at low drag. They were fast in the corners, medium speed, and low speed corners, fast in the straights, and we know that Max when he has a competitive car can deliver strong weekends.

"Conversely, we also knew that we are in Baku for us would have been a difficult circuit. So we will see now in Singapore, which should be more of a one in which we should perform well. Hopefully we can go back to fighting for victories, and then we will see how the rest of the championship will unfold, but definitely, Max is in the contention for the driver' championship. We knew it, and we got confirmation today.”

Before the Azerbaijan GP, title leader Oscar Piastri held a 109-point advantage over Max Verstappen. The Australian’s retirement in Baku, however, has cut that margin to 69 points, while Verstappen has also closed the gap to Lando Norris in second to 44 points. With two sprint weekends and seven races remaining, the four-time world champion has more than just a mathematical chance of fighting for a fifth consecutive title if his momentum continues.

The key question lies in whether Red Bull’s upgrades will translate to circuits like Singapore, historically its Achilles heel. The Marina Bay street layout, with its high downforce demands and bumpy surface, has consistently exposed Red Bull’s weaknesses, even in 2023, when the RB19 dominated almost every other venue. Still, Max Verstappen’s wins have given him renewed confidence and placed psychological pressure on McLaren, whose Papaya squad now knows that even the smallest driver or team errors could prove costly in sustaining their lead in the driver’s championship.