McLaren says it is thankful Mercedes dominated the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as that prevented main rival Ferrari from slashing too much into its constructors' championship lead.
On a weekend when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri struggled to find pace with their MCL38 cars, as McLaren was the fourth quickest team, there was a big risk of its advantage in the team battle being wiped away if Ferrari dominated.
In the end, with Mercedes locking out a 1-2, Ferrari managed no better than third and fourth – meaning the Prancing Horse only cut the gap to McLaren by 12 points. So, there is now a 24-point gap between the two teams ahead of the final races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Speaking about the increasingly tight fight, McLaren boss Andrea Stella said: "It's disappointing that we lost 12 points in the championship.
"But at the same time, considering how much we struggled this weekend, somehow, we really have to thank Mercedes for having performed so strong and secured the P1, P2 position.
"Otherwise, Ferrari would have been an even bigger threat in the constructors' championship."
While McLaren feels that the layouts of Qatar and Abu Dhabi should suit its car better, Stella reckons the competitiveness of the top squads this year means it needs to be cautious about taking anything for granted about how the final races play out.
"It's true, and I've said it myself, that Qatar and Abu Dhabi should be territory that is more suitable for the way we have designed our car," he said.
"But, at the same time, I think we need to be careful that the level of the top teams in Formula 1 in 2024 is unprecedented.
"I really can't remember a season in Formula 1 where four teams were operating at such a high level, not only because they are in condition to win, but they are in condition to dominate - like Mercedes did here - with faultless weekends.
"This means, for me, we go to Qatar thinking that the car may perform well, but if we think that this is an easy ride, we will be hit by the reality."
McLaren struggles more in low-speed corners, which means this weekend's fast Losail venue should in theory be a much better stomping ground – as it proved last year when Piastri won the sprint race.
But Stella thinks that the margins are so tight that any of the top four teams could come out on top – which could swing the constructors' battle hugely.
"We go there knowing that we need to maximize the potential of the car," he said. "If we do that, then certainly from a track layout point of view the car should spend quite a lot of time where it's been designed to perform.
"But I would expect Ferrari, and certainly even Red Bull and Mercedes, to have got quite a lot of information from this weekend as well, to be in condition to win in Qatar.
"So it's a very interesting, much more than I would have liked, final part of the season. I always try to get things to be boring, but that's not the case."
