Ferrari and McLaren are 'more similar' than one can think, feels new Papaya boss Andrea Stella

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has said that the British team have many similarities with Italian giants Ferrari than many know of.

McLaren and Ferrari are two of the most iconic teams in F1, having won multiple world championships. They have often battled on the track in some of the most legendary moments in the sport. The two teams most recently battled for P3 in the 2021 championshi, where Ferrari edged out McLaren.

However, since then, Ferrari have gone on to battle for wins and podiums regularly, while the British team is still languishing in midfield. During the team principal's press conference ahead of the Bahrain GP this weekend, Stella, who has worked for both teams, said:

"Well, actually, I think that the two places operate in a more similar way than one can think. We are within the same regulations, and the same objective, so that's not a surprise.

"The main difference I found is – it actually still persists – I think it's in the size of the infrastructure, the size of the workforce, which is obviously quite a lot larger at my previous team. But we are working on it. There's a lot of investment going on at McLaren, right, to fill this gap in terms of infrastructure and workforce."

The 2023 Bahrain GP starts on Sunday (March 5).

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"I think testing confirmed that we are a midfield car" - McLaren boss

Andrea Stella said that last week's pre-season testing in Bahrain confirmed that McLaren will likely be in midfield during the 2023 season, compared to Ferrari, who are expected to fight for the championship.

He said:

"I think testing confirmed that, at the moment, we are a midfield car. The midfield is proving to be quite compact; a couple of tenths can move you to the top, a couple of tenths and you can be at the bottom of the midfield. I think, for us, the focus is to maximise the package in the short termubut at the same time, focus on delivering our upgrade programme."

After the first two practice sessions on Friday (March 3), the British team finished P9 and P15 with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri respectively. Meanwhile, Ferrari were P4 and P14 respectively with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

It will be fascinating to see where both teams end up at after the end of the first qualifying session of the season on Saturday (March 4).