Since challenging for wins in both Japan and Miami, McLaren have lost ground on their competitors in terms of the developmental battle. The reigning champions have upgrades in the pipeline but Stella says McLaren need to out-develop their competitors and do this by showing “more intensity”.
McLaren need to “out-develop” Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull
Andrea Stella during press conference – Photo: Race Pictures
In response to a question by GPblog, Stella said that the “competitiveness pattern” of 2026 shows that Mercedes is the fastest car, with the upgrades making the difference in the three cars that follow – Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren.
“We have seen that with the upgrades that Ferrari have taken, plus the engine upgrade that they have here, they just made a step forward. Red Bull’s upgrades here are quite impressive in terms of volume of upgrades and here they were faster than McLaren.
“So it’s a race of upgrades, a consistent pattern from a competitiveness point of view and I think this sets for us the usual requirement and demand in terms of bringing our own upgrades. We didn’t have anything too significant for this event so we slip a little behind. We should start having something slightly more consistent for the few races coming and we will see there if we can give a bit of a turnaround to our season and close the gap.”
Stella added that internally McLaren directors have spoken about “three months of development” that needs catching up. “There’s only one way of doing this which is to out-develop (our) competitors. We need to rev our engine higher. We need to have more intensity in the business. We need to be good at delivering effective solutions.
“What I see in the pipeline is very promising, especially in terms of aerodynamic upgrades. But at the same time, we need to land with these upgrades trackside as soon as possible.”