Despite his performance in Japan, Andrea Stella warns that unless Red Bull makes major improvements to the RB21 he won't win the title.

As in 2024, the Dutchman is clearly the difference as he struggles with an underperforming car. However, while this worked out last season the odds are very much stacked against him this year.

The team title was lost due to the lack of support from Sergio Perez, and while it is far too early to make an assessment of the support to be received from Yuki Tsunoda, with both McLaren drivers regularly scoring points (and victories) and even Mercedes looking strong, the odds are very much against Red Bull.

"I think Max, at the moment, is somehow making the difference himself," says Stella. "But it's very difficult to keep up for 24 events in a season if you don't have the best car."

With only one car regularly scoring points, the Italian knows that this puts Red Bull very much on the back foot, and even if Verstappen continues to produce performances like that in Suzuka he is up against teams where both drivers are regularly scoring.

"It's important that when we are not in condition to win we keep racing in a robust way," says the Italian. "Okay, like if you can't win, finish on the podium, and in the long term if you keep performing like this, I think this will be rewarding."

However, ignoring the potential threat in terms of his own drivers' ambitions, Stella is not writing off the threat from Mercedes or even Ferrari.

"We treat Max and Red Bull like Russell," he says. "How can you discount Leclerc... Hamilton? Obviously Ferrari is struggling a little bit now, but we treat all these certainly within the spectrum of the full season, at least until we have stabilised a little bit.

"I think at the moment we are still falling within the variability of the circuits. We have Hamilton winning the Sprint in China, Russell being competitive in the race in China. Here we have Red Bull and Max.

"I think we're still in a transient phase, we'll have to see how things settle down."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 10/04/2025 2:04

"@ Flyinglap...love that quotation. Brutal but realistic."

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2. Posted by flyinglap, 09/04/2025 15:58

"As the great "Iron" Mike Tyson said, "everybody has a plan... until they get punched in the face". We will see how that plan works for McLaren."

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3. Posted by Superbird70, 09/04/2025 14:11

"Maybe if Stella keeps repeating this mantra it will come true. On the other hand, maybe he should worry about perfecting his race strategy in order to get 1-2 finishes instead of 2-3 finishes."

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4. Posted by JamesD, 09/04/2025 13:55

"I just wish team principles, advisers etc and even drivers would just talk about their own teams and personal performance. Action on the track please, not words / gossip in the paddock !!"

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5. Posted by Max Noble, 09/04/2025 11:55

"Federer. Nadal. Djokovic. Three men. A tennis racket. The man made the difference…. I’m not betting against V. Max just yet.
"

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Stella plays down Verstappen's title hopes

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