McLaren team boss Andrea Stella takes his hat off to Max Verstappen after his performance in Imola – he particularly highlights the Red Bull star’s consistent starts
Team Principal Andrea Stella has a lot of respect for the Dutchman’s performance, with the McLaren boss highlighting the consistency of his starts in particular – on a track like Imola with few overtaking opportunities, this was ultimately half the battle on Sunday:
“When we look at Verstappen’s consistency under acceleration, it’s simply amazing: he takes pole position and you hardly ever see him lose a position in the first corner,” says Stella, identifying an extreme strength of the Red Bull star and praising: “This consistency is simply the result of good work.”
However, Stella’s praise is not only directed at Verstappen, but also at Red Bull’s consistent winners: “I admire how they can win so consistently, because there are so many ways things can go wrong,” says the McLaren team boss, recalling: “We were made aware of this again yesterday in qualifying with the mistake in our procedures.”
For the good starts, “the quality of the driver who executes the start” is primarily responsible, but also “the tire preparation and having a good engine in the acceleration phase”, Stella names the various pieces of the puzzle.
“You can get a bit of an advantage with reaction time, as Lando managed to do today,” Stella points out. “But if you have such consistent starts like Verstappen, you still don’t win the position.”
On Sunday in Imola, Norris may get off the line a tick better, but “clockwork” Verstappen is undeterred by this and covers turn one with aplomb. “It shows that you have to do a good job overall to be successful,” says Stella. Meaning: Next time, it’s best to start from the very front to somehow make Verstappen more vulnerable