McLaren boss questions Red Bull and Max Verstappen's values in harsh rebuke

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella questioned Max Verstappen's values in his latest jibe towards the defending F1 champion. Reacting to Verstappen's comments on McLaren's fast car, Stella questioned if Red Bull is happy with their driver downplaying the car their engineers built with a lot of hard work.

In the 2025 F1 season, there is a clear performance difference between Red Bull and McLaren. The latter's challenger, MCL39, has turned up as the fastest car on the grid, whereas the Bull's RB21 is struggling to extract performance and find the right balance.

Meanwhile, despite having a slower car, Verstappen won his first race of the season in Japan last week. However, in a post-race interview, he opined that had he been racing in McLaren, he would have finished the race much quicker, as MCL39 has a better pace compared to RB21.

Interestingly, some critics felt that Verstappen's comment was a jibe at Lando Norris as he failed to beat the Dutchman in Japan. However, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella instead questioned the four-time world champion's values.

Reacting to Max Verstappen's comment from Japan, Stella said (via Sky Sports):

“Verstappen? I wonder what people that work at Red Bull think when they hear their driver talk like this about the car they built; usually the driver represents all the values of the team. Max is very skilled not only in the car, actually he's superb in the car, but also he's very good with the media, and he knows how to throw baits."

Verstappen, meanwhile, has stood by his assessment. He told the media that he wasn't joking about the McLaren car's pace, and he meant it when he said that he would have disappeared if racing in an MCL39 at Suzuka.

In three races so far this year, the Papaya team has had an upper hand with two wins in Australia and China, whereas Verstappen won in Japan last week.

---

Lando Norris invites Max Verstappen to test the McLaren car

Lando Norris with Max Verstappen at F1 Grand Prix Of Japan - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen's comment about the McLaren car's pace has ignited a strong debate. Before Andrea Stella, Lando Norris also reacted to Max's statement and invited the latter to test MCL39. However, the Brit warned Verstappen of disappointment.

Talking to the media in Bahrain, Norris said:

"I don’t mind, he can say what he wants. I don’t care, honestly. Everyone can say what they want and believe what they want. I have a lot of respect for Max but I also know some things are not true, he can come and test our car any day that he wants and I’ll be excited to see the disappointment on his face after he gets out.”

Norris further explained that McLaren indeed had the fastest car in Japan. However, he couldn't get into a DRS zone to challenge Max Verstappen and missed out on a winning opportunity.