McLaren returned to winning ways at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but team principal Andrea Stella has warned that the Budapest breakthrough represents only the beginning. Although the latest upgrade package delivered a major improvement, Andrea Stella believes the team that ultimately wins the championship could unlock as much as another half-second of performance during the second half of the season.
The reigning world champions had started the 2026 campaign with several difficulties. Alongside the challenge of adapting to new mechanical and aerodynamic regulations, McLaren also had to understand how to manage and optimise a new power unit.
On one side, the team had to contend with problems affecting the Mercedes engine. On the other, McLaren had yet to fully understand how to maximise what is proving to be the strongest power unit on the grid when the interaction between its electrical and combustion components is considered.
Andrea Stella says McLaren’s Hungary win is only the beginning
Returning to the top step of the podium was undoubtedly an important moment for McLaren, but the Woking team know it is still too early to declare that they are consistently back at the front and ready to fight the leading teams at every circuit.
“The improvement we saw in terms of competitiveness was mainly due to the package introduced here in Hungary,” Andrea Stella said, according to Autosport.com.
The scale of McLaren’s performance surprised even the team itself. The development work behind McLaren’s Hungarian breakthrough produced more than the engineers had initially expected, both over one lap and across the race distance.
“We did not believe pole position was possible, just as we did not think we would be able to maintain such a strong pace in the race,” Andrea Stella explained. “Honestly, if we want to fight consistently for victories, we must remain focused on development. That is the plan, but we are not naive.”
McLaren prepare for an intense Formula 1 development race
The second half of the year is expected to be particularly demanding from a technical perspective. The opening 11 races brought a constant stream of upgrades, but translating those new components into genuine progress also required an extensive process of understanding that cannot be underestimated.
Although that learning process is not yet complete and there is still a great deal to discover, it is now more streamlined than it was at the beginning of the season. Teams have established clearer working methods as they navigate the new regulations, while their development directions have also become better defined.
Those clearer paths are likely to generate larger gains during the remaining rounds. McLaren’s progress has already attracted attention from its rivals, with Mercedes surprised by the scale of the MCL40 upgrade package introduced in Budapest.
Andrea Stella believes the championship leaders could still make another enormous step before the end of the campaign.
“It will be a development race in the second half of the season,” he said. “The good news is that McLaren will also be able to take part. However, I expect that whoever goes on to win the championship will manage to add up to half a second of performance between now and the next 11 races. We therefore have a lot of work to do.”
Andrea Stella sees opportunities but no McLaren advantage
McLaren already have further developments planned, but Andrea Stella does not believe the reigning champions hold a decisive advantage over their rivals. With the regulations still at an early stage of maturity, every team has opportunities to uncover substantial performance.
Different approaches are already emerging across the grid, with some teams introducing larger packages and others favouring a more gradual strategy. Ferrari, for example, has adopted a race-by-race development programme as McLaren brings broader upgrade packages.
“We already have something planned, but we do not have any particular advantage over the others,” Andrea Stella concluded, according to Autosport.com. “Everyone is doing an excellent job. The new regulations are still relatively immature, so opportunities can emerge. We are only halfway through the season.”
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