McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella isn’t getting carried away after their strong season start, keeping his eyes firmly on the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix.
“Following a victory in the first race of the season, we now immediately shift focus to the Chinese Grand Prix,” Stella said in a McLaren press release.
The race in China marks the first Sprint event of 2025, bringing both opportunities and challenges.
“As the first Sprint event of 2025, we know it offers more opportunity to score points, but it also provides the challenge of trying to maximize our learnings in the new car with reduced practice time,” he explained.
Sprint weekends give teams less practice time to dial in their setups, making every session crucial.
Stella feels good about where the team stands but remains cautious. The competition hasn’t shown their full hand yet.
“The team have built a quick car, which has given us a competitive start to the season. Both Lando and Oscar performed excellently in Melbourne, but we must remain grounded and continue to learn as we haven’t seen everything our competitors have to offer.”
He’s determined to keep the momentum going: “We’ll give it our all once again.”
European fans won’t need to wake up quite as early as they did for Australia. The Chinese Grand Prix is scheduled for 7:00 AM UK time (8:00 AM CET) next Sunday, though the Sprint race will still test some fans’ dedication to set those weekend alarms.
