Stella Rejects McLaren's Hungarian GP Win as Turning Point

Andrea Stella, team principal of McLaren, has firmly dismissed suggestions that the victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix marked a "turning point" for the squad this season. Despite Lando Norris securing pole on Saturday and converting it into the team's first win of the year on Sunday, Stella remained grounded.

The Woking-based outfit has had a largely challenging campaign, failing to carry over its championship-winning form from the previous season. However, a significant step forward came with the introduction of new upgrades, but Stella stressed that this leap was not unique to McLaren.

"I have to say, this year pretty much the top teams have always been successful in introducing upgrades, from what I can see," Stella told media including RacingNews365. "I think this is because the rules are still relatively immature, and the opportunities in terms of developing the car are almost low-hanging fruit to cash in."

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He added, "So I don't think McLaren has any particular advantage in 'oh everything we take is successful'. Everyone is now doing a good job in terms of bringing successful upgrades."

With the season at its halfway point, Stella insisted the title race will be heavily influenced by which team still has the resources to deliver more upgrades in the second half of the campaign. "It will be more about how many upgrades the top teams will be conditioned to deliver so far and for what's left of the season, because we are only midway in this season," he explained.

"It's far too early to say whether this is a turning point for McLaren or not. We just look at the facts. The fact is that the upgrades delivered as we intended," Stella concluded.