McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes it will be difficult for 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen to maintain his F1 title challenge without💧 Red Bull improving their car.

Verstappen reduced168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Lando Norris’ lead at the top ♚of the F1 drivers’ standings to just one point after his victory at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The four-time F1 world champion delivered a masterclass to take his first win of the ca♓mpaign, halting McLaren’s win streak.

McLaren were left to rue both drivers underperforming in qualifying, while their strategy on race day was scrutinised for being✅ too conservative.

Even though Verstappen won at Suzuka, McLaren are still the heavy𝔍 favourites for both titles.

Speaking after the race in Japan on Sundayℱ, Stella conceded that Verstappen is “making the difference himself🐎”.

However, Stella noted that it will be “very difficult” for Verstappen to 🦋remain in the title fight for the whole season if෴ Red Bull don't improve.

“So somehow this relates to wꦑhat I said before it’s important that when we are not in condition to win we keep racing in a robust way.

“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 b꧅e rewarding.

“I think Max, at tꦡhe moment, is somehow making the difference himself, but it’s very difficult ﷽to keep up for 24 events in a season if you don’t have the best car.”

Stella still wary of Mercedes and Ferrari

Stella is refusing to rule out Mercedes or Ferraꦉri during the remainder of the season.

Ferrari dominated the sprint part of the weekend in China, with168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Lewis Hamilton taking the win from pole position.

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:George Russell start𓃲e𒀰d the year with back-to-back podium finishes for Mercedes.

“We treat Max and Red Bull like Russell,” he added. “How can you discount Leclerc-Hami𝕴lton?

“Like 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.

“Because I think at t🌠he 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 aꦕnd Max.

“I 🍨think we’re still in a transient phase, we’ll have to see how things settle dow꧃n.”