Andrea Stella gets fruity in staggering McLaren defence: 'I am in disagreement'

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has launched a staggering defence of the team's defeat to Red Bull at Imola, by using apples, pears and peaches.

The team was expected to dominate at Imola, but a stunning move from Max Verstappen at Turn 1 stole the race for Red Bull, with Lando Norris second and pole-sitter and championship leader Oscar Piastri coming home third.

It was just McLaren's second defeat of the season, and coming two weeks after it crushed Red Bull in Miami, McLaren committed to a deep review to find out how Red Bull overhauled it. 

When questioned about this, Stella explained why a direct comparison between Miami and Imola was foolish, using apples, pears and his school teacher to explain. 

"I am in disagreement with this statement, and I think there is a tendency to compare apples and pears," Stella told media, including RacingNews365, in Monaco when asked if the post-Imola debrief had provided any clues behind the lack of performance.

"When I was at school, the teacher always said: 'Don't compare apples and pears, make sure you are specific, analytical and precise in how you use information.'

"I think Imola belongs to a category of tracks with Saudi and Japan, with high-speed corners and are narrow, and if we look at those circuits, pole position was Red Bull's, and in the race in Saudi, if it wasn't for the penalty, Max would have won. 

"If we look at the pace between McLaren and Red Bull in Japan and Saudi, the picture is consistent with what we had in Imola, and if we compare the race in Imola with Miami, we are comparing an apple with a pear.

"Miami is a low-speed dominated circuit, and with all the investment we've done with the aerodynamics, our car has improved massively in low-speed corners, but if we want to compare Miami, let's look back to China.

"What happened in China? The two McLarens disappeared, P1 and P2, and in Bahrain, a low-speed circuit, Oscar dominated the race, and Lando managed to recover from P6.

"So if we compare the circuits that belong to the apples or pears, I think you can derive your own implication in terms of where the factual assessment is from a technical point of view, but obviously some people are very good at dropping bait here and there, and moving away from the technical facts."

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Here comes the peach!

When then asked by RacingNews365 if Monaco was an "apple or a pear," Stella produced another fruit from his barrow.

"This one is a peach, this is a complete one off, and in this peach category, I wouldn't be surprised if, like, Ferrari is the lead car.

"Maybe we will do a few more races and create some better categories, and I'm curious to see, for instance, if Baku will be an apple or a pear, but I suspect it is a peach."