Andrea Stella: “We’re looking forward to Qualifying and the Race”

McLaren’s F1 team’s Executive Director for racing, Andrea Stella, was pleased with the teams progress on the opening day of the Dutch Grand Prix, as they look to get back into the fight with the BWT Alpine F1 Team for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship this weekend.

Although, Daniel Ricciardo had some small issues, Stella still believes that the day was a good one for the team.

“Overall, we had a productive day. There were a few issues, most notably a radiator problem for Daniel which cut short his FP2 and, as a result, he missed the high-fuel run at the end of the session. That aside, the day went well.“

Stella spoke on the improvement from last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, where the Woking-based team failed to score a point in their fight with the Enstone-based side. McLaren will be hopeful of gaining some ground on Alpine at Zandvoort, with the circuit so far proving to be much more suited to them.

We have progressed our understanding of the tyres and set-up direction, and we seem to be in a better place than we were last weekend at Spa. We’re looking forward to Qualifying and the Race – but still have plenty of work to do overnight in order to be as competitive as we can be.”

The opening day of the weekend also saw Lando Norris discover who his 2023 team-mate will be. After ending the day in third, the Brit discovered that Oscar Piastri will be alongside him next season, following the conclusion of the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board meeting.