Proclaiming he’d be out of sight if he were driving the McLaren MLC39, Andrea Stella doesn’t see that as a slight to his McLaren drivers, but rather one aimed at Red Bull’s RB21.

Arriving on the grid as the foretold team to beat, McLaren have two Grand Prix wins in three race weekends, and they lead both championship fights.

McLaren’s strengths or Red Bull’s shortfalls?

But while they do have a telling 36-point lead in the Constructors’ Championship, Lando Norris is just one point ahead of Verstappen in the fight for the World title.

It had Verstappen telling Viaplay after his victory in Japan, a race he won by 1.4s ahead of Norris, that he’d be out of sight if he was behind the wheel of the MCL39.

“I’m very happy with what I’m doing right now,” he said. “But I could think what would happen when I would be in that other car.”

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship
👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

Asked “the McLaren?”, he replied: “Yes, you wouldn’t see me anymore!”

The journalist joked, “You would have been in Tokyo already!”

“Exactly!” was Verstappen’s response.

Norris appeared to take that as a slight towards his and Piastri’s abilities, telling the media in Bahrain including PlanetF1.com, that he believes “both Oscar and myself are good drivers.

“I don’t believe he [Max] is, he’s maybe better at some things, but he is not better in every area.

“I have a lot of respect for Max, but I also know some things are not true.”

But if you ask McLaren team principal Stella, it was more pointed towards Red Bull and the RB21 that they have built.

“I wonder what the Red Bull employees, who work for him, think. Sympathy for them,” said the Italian told Sky Italia.

“He’s very good on the track, in fact he’s superb in the car, but he’s also competent in terms of communication.

“He’s good at throwing fuel on the fire.”

As for Piastri’s take on the four-time World Champion’s claim, he brushed it off as a cheeky jab after a Japanese Grand Prix decided by track positions with just 15 overtakes in 53 laps.

“I mean, yes,” said the Aussie. “But I think if Max had qualified third and we were first and second, it probably would have looked quite different as well. So I don’t think it was… yeah, I think it was light-hearted.

“But I think qualifying made a very big difference. I don’t think it’s normal to have two cars sitting two seconds behind the leader for 50 laps. It was kind of clear to see that our car was quicker.

“But yeah, I think the gaps would have been quite different if it had been the other way around from the start as well.”

Read next: Helmut Marko’s ‘different’ verdict as McLaren rear wing saga continues