Andrea Stella believes the three most accomplished drivers on today’s grid who would compete for wins in the same car are Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Although Verstappen beat his rivals in 2023, winning 19 out of 22 Grands Prix, behind Red Bull there was an interesting battle to be the best of the rest.
Initially belonging to Fernando Alonso in the early races, it was Norris who then emerged as Verstappen’s closest challenger as the season progressed, with him claiming six second place finishes.
Andrea Stella highlights Fernando Alonso’s ‘unique’ quality
However, McLaren’s poor start to the championship meant that it finished the campaign sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, while Aston Martin’s misguided development path with their AMR23 relegated Alonso to fourth, one point ahead.
Stella puts these two on a par with Verstappen if they all raced the “same” car.
“My top three drivers with the same cars would be Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso,” the McLaren team boss told DAZN.
The Italian believes Norris and new team-mate Oscar Piastri share qualities with Alonso, a two-time world champion who he rates as the most complete driver on the grid today.
“Oscar is talented and let me say intelligent,” he explained. “His brain power is very high. It has many interesting features. I would say he is very calm.
“Lando is already one of the best drivers on the grid. He is very fast, very good in the race, with tire management.
“When I think about Lando, I think that if the team and I gave him a good car, he could fight for the championship.
“When we talk about the most complete, I definitely think of Fernando Alonso.
“Basically, he doesn’t have any weaknesses. I think that makes it unique. He’s not the best at many things, but he’s very strong at all of them.
“I think in Oscar I see his powerful mind, he is definitely like Fernando. He can do math while driving.
“On the other hand, Lando, I think his development as a pilot will make him so accomplished. He reminds me a bit of Fernando.
There is no mention of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in Stella’s top three, although the Mercedes driver finished the season best of the rest in third.
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As for McLaren, they bounced back from their early season woes to field the B-spec on the grid at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Reversing their fortunes, the Woking team outscored every rival except Red Bull in the last 14 races to finish fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.
“For us, for McLaren, it’s been a positive season,” said Stella.
“Exhausting, we feel tired, but at the same time we have pleasant feelings plus satisfaction from these results that we achieve. We are proud of what we have achieved.”
And he is more proud to have still emerged as the team leading the battle with Verstappen and Red Bull, although he admits there is still a long way to go.
“I think Max Verstappen is completely out of place. I think he is there and that we can fight with Red Bull because they are very strong,” he added.
“Look at what they’ve achieved this year and I’m sure they have a lot more to unfold. As if they could take it one step further. Better to stick to our own thing and maintain our inner journey. And see where we can be more competitive.
“I’d like to see Zac Brown hit the garage as much as possible. Because obviously when the results are good, he high-fives you really hard, so we’d love to see him hitting the garage, smiling and being happy means good things are happening.”
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