New McLaren team boss Andrea Stella says team can count itself among F1's top in 2023

Andrea Stella says there are many areas where McLaren is moving forward positively and can even count itself among the top teams on the grid, despite a slump in form in 2022.

With many expecting the team to compete closer to the top last season, McLaren was a big disappointment and eventually slid down to finish fifth in the Constructors' Championship.

To make matters worse, the team had its team principal, Andreas Seidl, poached by Sauber, where he is now CEO.

However, many legacy programs and impacts of Seidl's leadership can still be felt. For example, several infrastructure projects are finishing this year that should help them become more competitive again, such as constructing a new wind tunnel.

Right direction

Stella is also confident that the team is moving in the right direction, even if on-track results were different from what they or their fans have wanted or expected.

"There are some aspects where we can lean to the top," Stella said.

"I repeat the example of pit stops. We can do very quick stops. According to some metrics, we are now the second or third-best team on pit stops.

"To become the best, there's a good one year of work if we take that single part of going racing, for instance. There are some other aspects of going racing where we are quite competitive already.

"I mentioned the race strategy, for example. There are some other aspects in which we want to do a better job. Like there are some elements of the operations [in 2022] that we have had some opportunities.

"I would say there is work to do, but not necessarily too much. We are starting to get optimistic and encouraged that we are gradually moving towards the top in that respect."