McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the opening three‑day pre‑season test has offered encouraging signs for his own team — but early performance indicators point to Ferrari and Mercedes emerging as the strongest outfits heading into the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Speaking after the conclusion of the Bahrain test, Stella balanced optimism about McLaren’s progress with a realistic assessment of the competitive landscape.
Before addressing the pecking order, Stella highlighted the value of the mileage McLaren achieved with its radically new 2026 car.
“Before we look at the pecking order, I have to say that this test so far has been extremely positive in terms of the mileage that we have been able to achieve. Reliability. Functionality.”
The new regulations have pushed teams to extremes in packaging and engineering complexity, leading to lengthy garage time across the grid.
“These cars required to take half a day off at times,” Stella explained. “Not only are they completely new, but the packaging has been particularly pushed from an engineering, from an innovation point of view, so they are also cars that take time to work on.”
Despite the challenges, McLaren feels it has made meaningful progress.
“The first couple of days in Barcelona were quite a bit of hard work to get the project to get going,” he said. “But after that, day three in Barcelona, and this first part of the Bahrain test, quite positive from a McLaren point of view.”
Ferrari and Mercedes impress in race simulations
While Stella stressed that testing times are notoriously difficult to interpret, he acknowledged that some patterns are already emerging.
“When it comes to looking at the pecking order, I think it’s always very difficult in testing,” he said. “If we consider the power unit, the weight of the cars themselves, they can move loads of lap time, so it’s difficult to compare.”
Even so, Ferrari and Mercedes have stood out — particularly in long‑run simulations completed by Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli.
“In terms of race pace, I can confirm that the race pace of Ferrari looks pretty competitive in the simulation that Hamilton did [on Friday].”
Mercedes, too, appears to have hit the ground running with its new‑generation car, with Antonelli’s consistency drawing attention up and down the pit lane.
“Early indications from a competitiveness point of view, I think definitely put Ferrari and Mercedes at the top of the list in terms of those that seem to be ready from a performance point of view, in particular.”
Despite Ferrari and Mercedes emerging as early benchmarks, Stella remains encouraged by McLaren’s trajectory. The team’s focus now shifts to extracting performance from a car that has shown strong reliability and promising behaviour in its early outings.
The true competitive order will only become clear when the lights go out in Bahrain — but for now, Stella’s assessment is measured: McLaren is progressing, but Ferrari and Mercedes have set the early standard.