System 1 | McLaren F1 sets its sights on the constructors’ championship

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella has revealed that third place in the constructors’ championship will leave the team happy with their performance this season.

The Woking team is currently on track to achieve their goal as they sit behind Red Bull and Ferrari in the standings.

He finished last year’s championship in fourth place after coming up strongly in the second half of the campaign.

McLaren opened its record year in Australia when Lando Norris crossed the line in third place.

His strong start puts him 35 points ahead of rival Mercedes after the first four rounds, as he aims to maintain his position in the standings.

“I think looking at the facts and figures, if we can hold third place in the championship, by making McLaren the third best car, that would be a good result for our team. We would certainly be happy with that kind of final position.”

However, Stella said the team is not too focused on where they will finish as they will not change their development efforts for that.

“There are certain circuits like Suzuka where we look like we can compete with Ferrari. So we say ‘why not?’. But to be honest, your way of thinking in Formula 1 is to push as hard as you can.”

“As a team you try to develop your car as much as possible, add as much race weekend as possible and then try to see where you are at the end.”

“It won’t make a big difference for us to say ‘we want to finish 2nd or 1st’ because either way we’re building the car as fast as possible.”

“You can say that you can direct your resources more towards the future – 2025 and 2026 – but the team is in a good position, in terms of sufficient resources, to look forward to 2025 and 2026 without worry.”

“We have entered a good balance and we will see the results at the end of the season once the big package from Miami is sent, we will have more information to know what we can achieve this year.”