McLaren boss raises concern over surprise F1 rival

McLaren boss Andrea Stella believes Ferrari's recent upturn in form will make the rest of the 2025 F1 championship "interesting."

A floor and diffuser upgrade was introduced by the Scuderia in Austria, which the team has acknowledged was a significant step forward, although Charles Leclerc did finish almost 20 seconds behind race-winner Lando Norris.

Throughout practice at Silverstone, Ferrari also emerged as McLaren's closest rival, with Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc even going one-two in Q2 before their challenge faltered in Q3, leaving them fifth and sixth, respectively. 

Ferrari is McLaren's closest challenger in the constructors' standings, but is more than double McLaren's points tally of 460 behind, in second on 222.

However, Stella believes his former team, which is evaluating a new rear suspension to cure its ride height issues, could be a factor in the championship over the second-half of the season.

"I have to say that looking at the lap times Ferrari have been able to pull off in every single session, Ferrari seemed to be the strongest team," Stella told media, including RacingNews365, after the Silverstone practice sessions.

"The gaps are very small and [even in qualifying], even a slight variation of wind affected a tenth here or there. 

"Even if we look at Q2, they were P1 and P2 quite convincingly, so it looks like the upgrades they took to Austria seemed to have worked very well. 

"It makes it interesting for the remainder of the championship, especially with Ferrari."