Stella: Verstappen one of the best drivers in Formula 1 history

Stella was gracious in defeat to Verstappen, praising the Red Bull driver who got the better of Lando Norris during a tense campaign that was settled last weekend in at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The four-time F1 World Champion did enough to deny Norris a first F1 world title and put the spotlight on the 'other' championship.

McLaren have not won an F1 world championship since 2008 when Lewis Hamilton did it for them. The last F1 Constructors' title trophy in their cabinet dates back to last century when Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard did the deed in 1998.

Reflecting on an underwhelming night for his team in Las Vegas and Verstappen's fourth title, Stella told F1.com: "Fair play to a great champion, fair play to one of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1. Fast, and consistent, even when he was winning race after race last year, people thought it was easy and it is not easy to win races, even when it looks easy.

"Really, hats off to Verstappen, well done to Red Bull in supporting this incredible driver and let me say we are proud that we were challenging him this season. We just lost a few too many points at the start of the season but then we were there with Verstappen’s pace.

"Which is hopefully just the preparation work for a new challenge we want to open next season on the drivers’ [championship]. But in 2024 well done to Max, very well deserved. The best driver won the championship."

Looking forward, Stella continued: "We look forward to next year from this point of view. But the constructors’ championship is open and our focus will be there.”

But Las Vegas was a blow to McLaren, apart from losing the Drivers' title shot, and Ferrari outscored them by 12 points on the day, reducing their lead in the 2024 F1 Construictors' points standings to 24, with two GPs and Sprint Race to do even more damage if Stella's team do not bounce back from the Vegas disappointment.

Of the weekend in the Nevada desert, Stella reflected: “In fairness, coming to Vegas, we expected it to be a bit of a struggle. This concern materialised in qualifying, in the race in the first two stints we were just fighting from graining and there was no way we could stop this phenomenon from happening.

“In the final stint, a combination of various things including some changes that were quite extreme with toys on the car and driving style, the graining didn’t happen on Lando’s car and the pace was as fast as the leaders.

“So, I think there’s not only the fact we could damage limit but [there was] important learning for us as a team in how we cope with this phenomenon and with these conditions.

“Overall, we lost points to Ferrari, but I would consider it a damage limitation considering we now go to two venues that should be more comfortable ground for our car. But when you have Mercedes performing like this, Ferrari at this level, Red Bull, it is never comfortable.

“So, we know the job is not finished, we know that there’s hard work ahead of us. We go to the last two races fully focused and we know we have a job to finish," declared Stella.