McLaren preach caution ahead of F1 season-defining challenge

Andrea Stella has tempered expectations ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, warning that the characteristics which allowed the MCL40 to dominate at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort may count for little at the Temple of Speed.

Lando Norris arrives in Monza on the back of consecutive victories and pole positions, a run that has thrust McLaren firmly into the race-win conversation.

The reigning F1 drivers' champion sits fourth in the standings on 159 points, 83 behind leader Kimi Antonelli, but the momentum is unmistakably with the British driver.

After the Dutch Grand Prix, Antonelli conceded that Mercedes were "clearly not the fastest car any more on the grid," while Norris was bullish on team radio, declaring: "The fight's still on, let's keep going."

Yet Stella is conscious that Monza represents an entirely different test. The Hungaroring and Zandvoort are high-downforce circuits that reward cornering performance and aerodynamic stability, precisely the areas where the MCL40 has excelled since its major upgrade package.

Monza, by contrast, demands the lowest drag configuration of the season, with cars at full throttle for roughly 80 per cent of the lap and heavy braking into tight chicanes.

"The real approach we have is just one race at a time," the McLaren team principal told media, including RacingNews365. "There's not much more you can influence than just maximising what's next available, and the next race will be Monza.

"And if we think about the demand of Zandvoort and Hungary, and then we think about the demand of Monza, we are in a completely different regime.

"So I think if we can confirm our improvements in Monza, then I would say that the answer to your question is, 'Yes, we can look with some optimism at the remainder of the season'."

Drag and braking under the microscope

Norris, for his part, acknowledged that two wins have not masked the MCL40's limitations.

"Despite the win, I'm not fully satisfied," he said after Zandvoort. "We still have weaknesses, particularly in the slow-speed corners, and we need to improve if we want to fight for the championship."

Stella pinpointed the specific areas of concern for Monza, where long straights and hard braking zones will place the MCL40 under a very different kind of scrutiny.

"But first of all, we need to go to Monza and see that our car can express a good performance on the long straights," he added.

"And we know that drag is not necessarily a point of strength of our car, for instance. There's a lot of braking, which is not necessarily a point of strength of our car.

"So there are a lot of things that we need to confirm... But so far, I think we can confirm that when we are at high-downforce circuits with this sort of layout, then we can fight for victories."