Andrea Stella was able to oversee the McLaren F1 Team’s first points finishes of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season in Sundays Australian Grand Prix, the first time the Woking-based team have breached the top ten since he took over as Team Principal during the off-season.
After two pointless races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, confidence within McLaren appeared to be low, particularly after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both qualified outside of the top ten during Saturday’s Qualifying session at Albert Park.
However, both drivers stayed out of trouble and showed good pace to take sixth and eighth place respectively, the points moving the team from the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship up to fifth, just fourteen points behind Scuderia Ferrari in fourth.
Stella says that even without the three red flags in Australia, the team were showing good pace, and they can return home for the four-week break before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with confidence that they are heading the right way in the development of the MCL60.
“An eventful race today in Melbourne,” said Stella. “We managed to stay out of trouble and were able to score our first points of the season.
“Even without the three red flags, it was good to see that we were in condition to race well and make good overtaking moves, so there’s plenty of positives. At the same time, we know we have to stay realistic and have a lot of hard work ahead.
“Both trackside and back at the factory, we’ll use the energy from this double points result to make us even more determined to deliver a quicker car. Thank you to everyone trackside, at the MTC and our colleagues at HPP for their hard work.”
