Stella: “McLaren must recover three months of development. The gap to Mercedes is 70% in the corners and 30% on the straights”
“This year, the competitive order has been remarkably consistent. At virtually every circuit and in every condition, Mercedes has been the fastest car, followed by Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren.” That was Andrea Stella’s assessment of the 2026 Formula 1 season, as he explained what he believes is shaping the current performance hierarchy.
“The difference is being made by the upgrades. We’ve seen that Ferrari, thanks to its latest aerodynamic package and the engine update introduced here, has taken another step forward. Red Bull has also brought a very impressive number of upgrades, and here they have been faster than McLaren. Right now, it’s a development race, and the competitive order has remained fairly constant. For us, that simply reinforces the need to continue bringing upgrades to the car.”
McLaren admits it has fallen behind in development
McLaren arrived in Austria without any significant new developments, something Andrea Stella admitted has inevitably affected the team’s competitiveness.
“We didn’t have anything particularly significant for this event, so we’re a little behind. We should start introducing upgrades on a more regular basis over the next few races, and then we’ll see if we can turn our season around and close the gap.”
Speaking about McLaren’s delay in development, the Italian team principal was even more direct.
“Internally, together with my senior technical directors, we talk about having to recover three months of development. There is only one way to do that: outperform our rivals in development. We have to accelerate. What I see in the pipeline is very promising, especially from an aerodynamic development perspective, but at the same time we have to bring those upgrades to the track as quickly as possible.”
Looking at the progress made by McLaren’s rivals, Andrea Stella admitted that Red Bull has been particularly impressive.
“If we look at the upgrades Red Bull has introduced, they are very substantial, as I said earlier. Their overall gains, both in terms of pure development and the performance they have brought to the track, are at a higher level than anything I’ve seen so far.”
Andrea Stella explains why McLaren delayed its rotating front wing
Andrea Stella also addressed McLaren’s rotating front wing, which had been expected to debut in Austria but ultimately was not used during the weekend.
“The development work we’re doing to introduce the solution we’ve seen on Ferrari and Red Bull is, in itself, a positive step. It’s almost following its own separate development path compared to the other upgrades currently in the pipeline. Those upgrades are much more closely related to the fundamental way the car interacts with the airflow, the aerodynamic flow structure and the way we generate downforce.”
“That device is mainly useful when you need to reduce drag on the straights, which is certainly important, but it isn’t the primary area where we need to improve our competitiveness.”
The Italian explained that while the new component remains important, there are other areas that deserve greater attention.
“From my perspective, it’s very clear internally that this project must not distract us from achieving a car capable of generating more aerodynamic downforce. That’s what we really need, and that’s what appears to be the determining factor almost everywhere we race. Practically every circuit we visit, the car with the greatest downforce seems to dominate. More recently, especially at circuits like Barcelona, we’ve seen that Ferrari is probably now the fastest car through the corners. But despite Ferrari‘s power unit development, Mercedes still appears to maintain an advantage on the straights.”
The real source of McLaren’s performance deficit
Andrea Stella then expanded further on what he described as a complex technical subject.
“There are many different factors that influence speed on power-sensitive sections of the track. Naturally, the power unit is the first one, and we’re trying to understand why we’re currently at a disadvantage. But aerodynamic drag also plays a role, as does the car’s overall efficiency on the straights. As I mentioned earlier, McLaren certainly has room for improvement in straight-line speed, but our main issue remains cornering grip.”
Most of the gap to Mercedes comes in the corners
The McLaren team principal admitted he is not surprised by the current performance gap to Mercedes.
“I’m not particularly surprised. Throughout the season, our deficit to Mercedes has consistently been between three and four tenths of a second. Around 70% of that gap comes in the corners, while the remaining 30% comes on the straights. The reason for the cornering deficit is very clear: their car generates more aerodynamic downforce than ours.”
Even so, Andrea Stella remains optimistic that McLaren is already working on solutions capable of reducing the gap.
“We have some very good projects that will soon reach the track. As for the 30% of the deficit that comes on the straights, as I said before, part of it could be explained by the higher aerodynamic drag of our car. But we’re also evaluating how we use the power unit, because the straight-line speed deficit is quite significant.”
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