The Mercedes F1 team have not had the best of campaigns this season despite being second in the Constructors’ Championship. The Silver Arrows have currently scored 305 points and are a whopping 318 points behind leaders Red Bull, who have already sealed the championship this season with six races remaining. Despite Mercedes’ underperformance in comparison to Red Bull, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes that it is the Silver Arrows who they fear most and not the Milton Keynes outfit ahead of the 2024 season.
Red Bull have been in a world of domination of their own this season, as they have won 15 of the 16 races. Max Verstappen has won 13, while Sergio Perez has won the other two. Meanwhile, Mercedes are yet to win a race this season and have a battle on their hands with Ferrari to finish second in the championship.
As things stand, the Silver Arrows currently have a 20-point lead over third-placed Ferrari. Meanwhile, McLaren, who expects Mercedes to significantly improve in 2024, is currently fifth in the championship with only 172 points.
Stella fears Mercedes will develop their car significantly in 2024
While speaking in a recent interview, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained how there are encouraging signs for his side for their next year’s car. However, he believes that all teams are likely to benefit moving into 2024, as each side will have more clarity after evaluating their struggles this season.
Among all the teams, he named Mercedes as the one, who he fears the most. “We don’t know if we are developing faster than Red Bull. And let’s not forget Mercedes, who I think realized what they needed to work on. I suspect they are going to fight back quite strongly. There are no factual elements at the moment that say this is the pecking order we will see next year, I think. Things can evolve“, he explained (as quoted by soymotor.com).
The Italian then concluded his remarks by explaining how the Woking-based outfit are currently ahead of expectations this season. The 52-year-old believes that the way his side began the 2023 season, they have done a remarkable job to be where they are at the moment.
McLaren have shown stunning improvement this season
Considering the way McLaren began their 2023 season, they have demonstrated a remarkable improvement this season. At the start of the campaign, the team were fighting incredibly hard just to get into the points. However, in the second half of the season, the team have consistently been fighting for podiums.
The Woking-based outfit have scored 57 points in just their last two races and have got themselves back in the fight for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. Even though fourth-placed Aston Martin are currently still ahead of them by 49 points, considering the way McLaren have been improving, they could take the fight to the Silverstone-based outfit.
