Andrea Stella is convinced that Formula 1 has never seen a driver group as strong as the one competing today. With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the middle of a title fight, the McLaren boss points to how tight performance levels have become across the field.

Last weekend’s Sao Paulo was another example. The gaps in qualifying at Interlagos were again extremely small, underlining how closely matched the teams and drivers are this season.

“I think what we see in this season in Formula 1, in terms of competitiveness – and this is something that you may pick for a little bit of analysis – I don't recall that there was such a competitive pool of drivers in any other season,” Stella told Autosport.

Although the championship battle is centred on the McLaren pair, Stella insists the depth of talent stretches far wider. In his view, as many as seven or eight current drivers have the ability to win a world title with the right car.

He attributes this to the strength of today’s junior series, which he believes are producing an exceptionally well-prepared young generation.

“The new generation of drivers, they're just so good, and now you have seven, eight drivers which are at world championship level. Like I say, I'm not sure this has happened before,” the McLaren boss added.