The gloves are off in the battle for Formula 1 supremacy. As the 2024 season enters its pivotal final phase, the duel between McLaren and Ferrari for the all-important constructors’ championship is reaching a fever pitch. But according to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, the Woking-based squad remains laser-focused on the bigger picture, even after a frustrating setback in Brazil.
McLaren’s hopes of a long-awaited drivers’ title took a significant blow at Interlagos, where Lando Norris struggled to match the searing pace of championship leader Max Verstappen. The flying Dutchman, who started a lowly 17th after a qualifying mishap, scythed through the field to claim a sensational victory, further extending his already-daunting points lead.
Norris: Verstappen “Got a Bit Lucky”
For Norris, it was a bitter pill to swallow. The young Briton, who had started from a maiden pole position, ultimately trailed home a disappointing sixth. Speaking candidly after the race, he suggested that Verstappen had enjoyed a slice of good fortune en route to his eighth win of the campaign.
“He drove well, he got a bit lucky,” Norris told Sky Sports. The 22-year-old pointed to the timing of a crucial safety car period, which allowed Verstappen to make a ‘free’ pit stop while Norris had already boxed under green-flag conditions, as a key turning point.
– Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Driver
Verstappen, for his part, saw things rather differently. “I don’t feel that way after the second phase of qualifying when I was caught out by a red flag,” he countered, alluding to the five-place grid penalty he was forced to serve for an engine change. The two-time world champion produced a virtuoso display when it mattered most, overtaking a remarkable six cars on the opening lap alone to thrust himself immediately into podium contention.
Stella: Car to Blame, Not Driver
Amid the disappointment, Stella was quick to defend his young charge. The Italian insisted that Norris’ travails – which included a costly off-track excursion and a series of uncharacteristic lock-ups – were more a reflection of the car’s shortcomings than any driver error.
“When we lock the tyres with a car like we have today, I am not looking at the driver. I am looking at why the car keeps locking the front tyres in conditions like this,” Stella explained. “We have struggled with the lock-ups all weekend in wet conditions with both drivers and I think from a car point of view this is also something that we need to look into.”
– Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal
Constructors’ Battle Takes Center Stage
Crucially, even as Norris’ own title aspirations fade, McLaren actually managed to extend their hard-earned lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings. The Scuderia endured a miserable weekend, with Carlos Sainz retiring after a first-lap tangle and Charles Leclerc struggling to a distant fourth.
It means that with just three rounds remaining, McLaren now holds a 36-point buffer over their scarlet rivals. For Stella, consolidating that advantage is now the team’s unwavering priority.
“The constructors’ championship was always our priority, so this doesn’t change anything,” he said firmly, even as Norris slipped to a near-insurmountable 62 points adrift of Verstappen in the drivers’ reckoning.
– Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal
Verstappen on Brink of Title
Verstappen, meanwhile, is now poised to wrap up a fourth consecutive drivers’ crown when battle resumes in Las Vegas later this month. His Interlagos masterclass, acclaimed by many observers as one of the finest drives in the sport’s storied history, moved him one step closer to joining the legendary likes of Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton in the pantheon of four-time champions.
Only five times in Formula 1’s previous 1,121 races had a driver recovered from 17th or lower to take the chequered flag first. Verstappen’s victory also brought to an end his longest winless streak since 2018, a 10-race run that must have seemed an eternity for a competitor of his relentless brilliance.
Intensity Rises as Finale Looms
As the 2024 campaign builds towards its climax, the stakes could hardly be higher. For McLaren, ending a 25-year constructors’ title drought would mark a crowning moment in the team’s painstaking journey back to the very top of the grand prix grid. Toppling a powerhouse like Ferrari, on the 100th anniversary of the Prancing Horse’s first world championship entry no less, would be the sweetest triumph of all.
Norris, too, knows he cannot afford to let his own motivation levels dip, even as his own title dreams recede. Helping to deliver McLaren’s first teams’ trophy since 1998, in his fifth season of Formula 1, would further burnish his burgeoning reputation as a driver and leader of immense promise.
Still only 24, Norris has already achieved more than many accomplished pilots manage in their entire careers. His return of six podiums and one grand prix victory places him in exalted company, and his bond with the team that has nurtured him since his junior days runs impressively deep. Together, driver and squad remain united and fiercely determined to make the final, hardest step back to the absolute pinnacle of the sport.
Formula 1 has ever been a theatre of glitz, glamor, and unrelenting pressure. But as a gripping 2024 season speeds towards its denouement, all under the bright lights of Vegas and Abu Dhabi, seldom has its spotlight shone more intensely. Through McLaren’s unwavering pursuit of an elusive constructors’ crown and Verstappen’s stampede to a seemingly inevitable fourth drivers’ coronation, the most demanding motorsport arena of all is primed for a spellbinding finish.
