Andrea Stella hands McLaren 'drop the ball' warning

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella warned his outfit that it must not "drop the ball" in a similar case to the Canadian Grand Prix going forward. 

The Montreal event marked a pivotal moment in McLaren's F1 season after Lando Norris crashed into Oscar Piastri whilst battling for fourth in the closing laps at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. 

It was the Woking-based outfit's worst grand prix of the year, and proved to Stella the team can quickly see things go sour.

When McLaren has been at its best this campaign, it has been unstoppable, resulting in nine victories in the opening 12 grands prix.

The goal for Stella looking ahead to the second half of the season is to continue its dominance over the field, something he knows requires hard work. 

Stella is conscious that, despite McLaren's significant advantage, it cannot afford to give its rivals a sniff of the title.

When asked what McLaren's plan is for the second half of the season, Stella said at McLaren Racing Live: "Well, the next strategy is to keep doing what we are doing. 

"Which is not only in terms of trying to achieve the same results, but also have the same determination we need to maximise the potential of what's available. 

"The performance we saw in Canada, that as soon as you drop the ball, you don't win anymore. So winning is not given for granted, winning is something that you have to earn. 

"You have to earn it in terms of preparation, you have to earn it on the ground. So the mission for the second part of the season is to go try and do our best to try to maximise our potential and keep winning races, keep giving our fans plenty of emotions."