Andrea Stella wants McLaren to “finally” make peace with Las Vegas
Andrea Stella says McLaren is aiming to finally make “peace” with what has historically been a difficult race for the team in Las Vegas.
The Sao Paulo Grand Prix was a successful weekend for McLaren, with Lando Norris showing a dominant level of performance with his third win of the season, and team-mate Oscar Piastri showing a strong uptick in pace.
Las Vegas is usually a very different beast for teams, with the circuit boasting the cold temperatures of a late evening in Nevada. But McLaren enjoyed the cold and wet weekend Brazil offered, with the MCL40 being able to control its tyre temperatures.
Team principal Andrea Stella believes the team’s return to the United States could yield a strong haul of points.
“It’s a very different circuit layout, Vegas. Long straights,” he said. “We have seen this in Monza, we have seen this in Baku, that when the requirement is to develop top speed, not necessarily McLaren is the best car.
“We know that this also somehow relates to our gear ratios that are not ideal when you need to go above a certain level of top speed. But having said that, I think we approach Vegas with some optimism because the car is faster now.”
The pace has come from several upgrades since the summer, including a new front wing in Brazil that McLaren designed to make the car more predictable. Stella confirmed that more new parts would arrive in Las Vegas.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images
“These upgrades, they will be complemented by some more parts that come in Vegas, and they form the foundation for what will be next year’s car,” he said.
Last year, Norris and Piastri finished second and fourth in Vegas, only for both cars to be disqualified for excessive wear on the skid blocks under the floor.
“We want to go there and have a good result because it’s been probably, of all the races in the calendar, the one that we’ve been struggling the most,” he said. “And even last year that we had a good race, we made our life bad with the problem that we had with the skid wear.
“So we look forward to Vegas, have a good result there and finally being in peace with this venue.”
McLaren is fourth in the constructors’ standings, 17 points behind Red Bull with just three races left. The papaya-coloured team is under pressure to score big under the neon lights of The Strip to finish third after what has been a long season.
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