McLaren pour 'water on the fire' of 'best car' theory

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has attempted to pour "water on the fire" of assertions that McLaren currently has the best car in F1.

Red Bull started the season comfortably ahead of the competition, enjoying a significant performance delta to Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes behind.

Stella's team introduced a substantial development package at the Miami Grand Prix, and in doing so, put the MCL38 in position to fight the RB20 week in week out.

Lando Norris won that race - his first grand prix victory - sparking a run of a 10 consecutive podiums for the team, including a one-two finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ferrari and Mercedes followed suit in the upgrade battle, as the trailing trio converged with Red Bull at the head of the F1 field. 

However, McLaren has been competitive on a more consistent basis, and displayed better one-lap pace, over the past nine rounds. It has become considered the team to beat, usurping Red Bull - a claim Stella rejects.

"I'm not surprised, but I keep receiving observations that McLaren is the best car,"  the 53-year-old told media including RacingNews365 when asked about the pace shown by Mercedes and Ferrari during the Belgian Grand Prix.

"I always keep putting some water on the fire and say 'There are four cars that are pretty much at the same level. There's a bit of variability, which is a function of the track, a function even of the conditions to some extent."

'Small factors... modify the pecking order'

In the past nine rounds, six different drivers have won a grand prix, with at least one win going to each of the leading four teams.

Max Verstappen has triumphed on three occasions, as has Mercedes, whilst McLaren has won twice.

After his drivers came home in second and fifth place at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, Stella was keen to highlight the spread of victories.

The Italian drew upon Lewis Hamilton's two recent first-place finishes, and tyre wear, to make his case, arguing that small changes in conditions race-to-race lead to variation in the pecking order.

"In these hot temperatures [during the Belgian Grand Prix], Mercedes did a good job of making the tyre last that long, it's all to be proven that we [McLaren] would have been in condition to do such a long stint," he explained.

"Because we saw at different times this year, for instance, completely different conditions. But even in Silverstone, Lando [Norris], [Lewis] Hamilton, they both had new soft [tyres]. Hamilton somehow managed to keep them alive and win the race at Silverstone. For us, the tyres went off. 

"In some other conditions, we actually seem to be good with tyres, and so it looks like everything is so close together that some small factors, and variable circumstances, can modify the pecking order."